NAGA CITY — The two super typhoons (‘Milenyo’ and ‘Reming’) that ravaged Bicol in succession have evidently muffled the Christmas midnight celebration here with very sparse blasts even as it can be said as the most peaceful so far with no holiday-related incident recorded.

        Notwithstanding Nature’s force that put all things at its mercy, the Roman Catholic Church here, with believers comprising some 95 percent of the population, has seemingly drawn more faithful to attend masses religiously.

        Fr. Louie Occiano of the Archdiocese of Caceres revealed that the attendance at midnight Christmas mass on Sunday was unprecedented with overflowing attendees occupying even the patios of Naga Metropolitan Cathedral.

        Occiano, co-celebrant of the Christmas midnight mass, said in previous year the mass attendees were just enough to fill in the 1,000-seat cathedral and estimated that on the midnight of the 24th it was like the Feast of Nuestra Señora Peñafrancia, the only regional religious fiesta in the country in September when tens of thousands of devotees flock this city of 27 barangays.

        He said that the unstoppable fury of the super typhoon has made impact on the faith of Christians here including other denominations and sects.

        Occiano said that in the afternoon of Nov. 30, at the height of Reming’s fury, frantic calls on the radio to pray on air came so that the priests here have to respond appropriately while the terrifying force at more than 200 kph winds bombarded the city.

        He said that other Christian denomination and sects also responded and they prayed on the air for God’s mercy and protection.

        Occiano added that they played on the radio the “Resuena Vibrante”, the hymn of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia, the Patroness of Bicol, for divine intervention to spare the people here from further harm.

        The super typhoon left dozens of casualties in Camarines Sur but hundreds dead in Albay as billions of pesos in damages to crops and infrastructures were lost.

        SPO3 Rodolfo Gonzaga, desk officer of the police office in this city, told the Bicol Mail that the police blotter was ‘clean’ with no reported untoward incident brought to police attention.

        Gonzaga said that in previous years it was not uncommon that as early as 10 o’clock on the eve of Christmas holiday-related incidents would start to come in which made the police forces here on their toes.

        He said that on Sunday night until the break of dawn the policemen on duty were relatively relax with no single incident related to the celebration of Christmas reported at their headquarters.

        The police provincial office here reported the same which made the Christmas celebration in this province relatively the most peaceful for years.

        A visit to Bicol Medical Center (BMC), the tertiary government hospital here, revealed that there was no single case related to Christmas celebration, like injuries from firecrackers, was admitted.

        Vicente Base, the guard on duty at the BMC, gave the information with no official sanction from hospital authorities after refusing the Bicol Mail entry to the hospital.

        Base said Dr. Edgar O. Esplana, chief of hospital who was out for the holidays, is the only authority to give permit for media entry into the hospital as a matter of policy.

        But he assured he was there the whole night and observed and knew emergency admittance.

        While the police offices and hospitals here experienced a respite from incidents related to the Christmas celebration, vendors selling firecrackers were having hard time selling their items.

        Rebecca Duparis, 43, a firecracker vendor on the street at the Plaza Rizal here, revealed that she experienced the lowest sales in her 10 years of selling firecrackers.

        Duparis said that no one seemed to mind her major items that most adults buy.

        She said only firecrackers suited for children recorded sales.

        Marites Martinez, 34, a firecracker vendor for 14 years, echoed Duparis’ predicament and added that the last big sales was in 2003.

        The super typhoon has also affected the way people here celebrate Christmas who apparently chose a subdued celebration in their homes after experiencing the strongest typhoon ever to pass by in Bicol in the living memory.

        Robert Obiedo, hotelier and supermarket chain owner, said that sales this Christmas were slow and that even the number of patrons of entertainment joints have declined.

        “We expected it even as Naga City did not suffer the same destruction Albay went through,” Obiedo said.