Just a stones throw away from Magellan’s Cross is the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu. It is named after a statue of the infant Jesus which was reportedly found at that exact spot — one of the items that was left behind decades earlier by the original expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan.

Inside the church complex is a museum (I like museums!) which showcases the Christian heritage of Cebu. However, since I was there on a Sunday, I was unfortunate enough to have gone at a time when a public mass service was ongoing.

I find it kind of sad that outside the church (Literally, just outside. Not outside of the complex.) are hoards of vendors. Here are some, right next to the church entrance selling balloons.

It didn’t feel sacred anymore, which is a shame, since this is a holy site that’s been standing for over 400 years. It brings to mind passages from John 2:14-16.

There in the Temple he (Jesus) found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables. So he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins; and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, “Take them out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

I couldn’t go to the museum, people kept touching my bike, many others were nagging me to buy this and that, and a security guard eventually asked me to stop taking photos. “The priests don’t like it. It disturbs the service”, he said. I understand that, but couldn’t you do something about the vendors as well?

Oh well. I figured it must be time to leave. I unfolded the Brompton and cycled away from the church, looking for some peace and quiet. Ironic, isn’t it?