CEBU CITY – The Pedrito, a doll fashioned after the image of Saint Pedro Calungsod, continues to enjoy brisk sales.

Eileen Esteban, head of the new media committee under the National Commission for Canonization of Pedro Calungsod, said there are plans to produce 1,000 repackaged versions that will include a catechesis on the Visayan martyr’s life.

She said the doll was made to encourage young people to aspire to become missionaries.

The group was in Cebu to attend the national thanksgiving mass for Calungsod’s canonization Friday at the South Road Properties.

They brought 200 dolls that had been ordered online and yet people reportedly still lined up to buy the dolls.

The group, whose members include Esteban, Emely Lingat and writer Aaron Veloso, brought the original Pedrito doll to Cebu to take its photos using the city’s popular landmarks like the Cathedral Museum, the Basilica Del Sto. Niño and San Pedro Calungsod shrine as backdrop.

Esteban said she was not aware of the impact of the doll that was used to promote the devotion to the second Filipino saint until she heard people’s stories.

She said they came up with the idea to complement the website that contains stories and teachings on Calungsod.

“We wanted to depict Pedrito on the road to canonization, following the tracks of Pedro Calungsod from the canonization last Oct. 21 to the thanksgiving mass on Nov. 30,” she said.

“The idea was to make an icon that was embraceable because our target market was the youth. We want it as a call on the young people to be missionaries just like Pedro,” she said.

The dolls were initially not for sale. The group wanted to only make five pieces as tools for catechism and token gifts for bishops. But the supplier would only accept a minimum order of 50 pieces.

“We only needed five, We didn’t need the remaining 45 and we needed the money so we sold the limited edition dolls,” she said.

Esteban said the next batch will include a catechesis on the life of Calungsod, who was beatified in March 2000 and declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI last Oct. 21.*PNA

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