Through Fray Diego Ordoñez de Vivar, Tondo extended its ecclesiastical territory to Morong.

[4] Construction of the first stone monastery is believed to have started in 1611 under Fray Alonso Guerrero, then minister of Tondo.

This resolution was repeated the following year due to needed assistance to be provided for the father provincial who was then staying in Tondo.

[5] During 1625, Fray Antonio de Ocampo pawned[clarification needed] the convent for 800 pesos, the sum to be spent during a three-year term improvement of the house facilities like the cenador, staircase, etc.

[5] In 1641, the prior was authorized to repair the church due to the turmoil caused by the Sangleys and in addition, water cisterns were installed to save budget for purchasing.

[5] This magnificence was short-lived because, in 1661, Governor Sabiniano Manrique de Lara who feared Koseng (Koxinga), a Chinese pirate from Hermosa Island (Formosa, now Taiwan) might fortify himself inside the structure.

The income of Sangley stores, the alms for the souls in Purgatory, some donations and tax exemption were utilized for the rebuilding of the church and the convent.

For the first time in the country, steel framing was used for the media naranja dome and iron sheets for the roofing.

[4] The structural envelope is characterized by minimal ornamentation with Ionic rectangular pilasters attached at the main facade.

According to the Philippine Historical Commission, the people of Tondo celebrated the feast day with a fluvial procession that "attracted thousands of visitors".

Tondo's terrain at that time consisted of waterways and tributaries which were connected to Manila Bay, a probable reason why the present stone church of Tondo was constructed on elevated ground (several meters above sea level) to prevent sea waters from inundating the Church.

[6] In his book entitled Almanac for Manileños (Published in 1979), Joaquin describes the previous celebrations of the fiesta: "At four in the afternoon on the visperas (meaning the Saturday before) the Sto.

Niño of Tondo is borne to the sea by a dancing crowd among which groups of women in pastora hats, or in katipuneda attire: white camisa, red saya.

On the pagoda the dancing continues but the trip has also become a picnic as the good old custom of caridad showers forth bags of biscuits and baskets of native oranges.

The voyage ends at the landing in the Velasquez and Pritil, densest tenement of Tondo is even livelier because folks back from school or works join in the merriment and besides, it's always more fun to dance under the stars than under the sun.

The current name has become popular because of the many contingents of dancers—particually males—who take part on the parade on the streets of Tondo on the Saturday before the 3rd Sunday of January – a homage of the dancing of the former land segments of what was once the fluvial procession.