CEBU CITY, Philippines – The strict implementation of a dress code at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu has gotten mostly positive feedback from churchgoers, an Augustinian friar said in a news forum.

“We’re not asking for gowns and tuxedos,” said Father Albert Benedict Soliman, provincial liturgist and Augustinian community secretary. Soliman was responding to concerns raised by some that the dress code would turn away poor people who could not afford clothes that meet the guidelines. He said people are still adjusting to the strict implementation of the dress code.

Soliman said during the Open Line News Media Forum hosted on Tuesday, October 22, by MyTV Cebu that the Augustinians, the religious order that administers the basilica, decided to strictly implement an existing custom because of what they saw were abuses by some church visitors.

“People are starting to dress more casually as they enter the church, as if the church is being treated no longer as a spiritual space, not as a sacred space, but now as a tourism site. Although it has implications in tourism, we are stressing that it is, first of all, a shrine,” he said.

Soliman said that what triggered the strict implementation of the dress code was an incident with a social media influencer last July.

The influencer, a trans woman who teaches in Taiwan, complained while streaming on Facebook Live of being initially denied entry by the basilica’s security guards and a policewoman. She was eventually allowed entry after a discussion with the guards and presentation of her passport as an identification.

Soliman said their community discussed the incident and agreed to implement a dress code. He said they announced it a month ahead to give people enough time to be made aware of the regulations. They asked for the help of the Cebu City Tourism Commission to inform tour operators about the dress code. 

He said they will continue implementing the policy even during the Sinulog in January, when millions of pilgrims visit the basilica.

When asked whether those who crossdress but still meet the dress code will be allowed entry, Soliman said “there is no problem in principle” but asked people “to recognize the gender given to them by the Lord.” 

“What will they stress? Their being members of the LGBT or will they stress being Catholic? So with that question, it is now up to their discernment what is appropriate?” he said.

Soliman also said that starting December 1, the basilica will revert to its pre-pandemic mass schedules of hourly services on Fridays. – Rappler.com

Max Limpag, a freelance journalist from Cebu, is a 2024 Aries Rufo Journalism fellow.