27 Pampanga, Bulacan penitents nailed to crosses

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 27 penitents – including two women – were nailed to crosses on Good Friday in Pampanga and Bulacan in macabre reenactments of the crucifixion, a practice frowned upon by the Catholic Church.

In Barangay San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando, Pampanga, 12 penitents were nailed to wooden crosses on a makeshift “Golgotha.”

Marnie Castro, chairman of “Maleldo” (holy days) festivities, said one of the crucified penitents was 48-year-old carpenter and painter Ruben Enaje.

It was Enaje’s 24th time to join the reenactment of the crucifixion since 1986.

He said it was his way of atoning for his sins as well as those of his family and friends.

In Cutud alone last year, 17 people were nailed to crosses.

Enaje began his annual self-mortification after a near fatal accident at his work place in Tarlac.

Enaje joined the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) before being nailed to a cross.

“Crucified” with Enaje were a certain Danny and a woman identified as Mary Jane Mamangon, 34.

Castro said there were 500 flagellants who joined the penitents in the procession to “Golgotha.”

Seven male penitents were nailed to crosses in Barangay San Juan, and two more in Sta. Lucia, both in Pampanga.

Superintendent Marcelo Dayag, chief of police of San Fernando, said more than 50,000 local and foreign tourists flocked to the three crucifixion sites.

Dayag said there were no reports of untoward incidents during the reenactments.

Broken cross

In Paombong, Bulacan, two men and a woman were nailed to crosses, while one crucifixion had to be called off after the penitent’s cross broke at the Sto. Cristo Chapel grounds in Barangay Kapitangan.

The “crucified” penitents were Alexie Dionisio and two others identified only as Len-len and Roger.

Spectators waited in vain for the     crucifixion of Michael Valencia, whose wooden cross broke during a commotion. Organizers dismissed the incident as a mere accident and not a bad omen.

Dionisio, meanwhile, said this was his last crucifixion. He said he had fulfilled the ritual for 16 years.

Dionisio, a businessman, said penitents who were nailed to crosses received divine messages and inspirations.

In Casiguran, Aurora, three people had themselves tied to crosses to dramatize their protests against the operation of the Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority. The reenactment reportedly turned off many Holy Week devotees.

The protesters claimed the development of the zone had displaced thousands of ethnic people.

Easter festival

After Good Friday’s blood and gore, devotees and tourists can look forward to pomp and pageantry in today’s Easter celebration in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga.

The “Sabuaga” festival highlights today’s festivities, to be capped by the blasting of an effigy of Judas Iscariot.

Irwin Nucum, a songwriter and local culturati, said Sabuaga is derived from the words sabuag (scatter) and sampaga (flowers).

“The sagalas (local beauty queens) will shower petals on the image of the Virgin Mary in veneration of her and for keeping the faith and oneness with her Son in His sufferings,” he said.

Bong Lacson, author and a prominent Kapampangan, said, “The Holy Week tourist trail in Pampanga has always invariably ended at the crucifixion rites of flagellants in Barangay Cutud in the City of San Fernando.”

Locals said there was “crucifixion overdose” in Pampanga now that two other villages had staged their own reenactments.

“As a matter of course, Easter Sunday is celebrated as the fiesta in Poblacion, taking precedence over the official July 3 feast day of the patron St. Thomas the Apostle,” he said.

“Over the years, Thomasians have gladly acknowledged and observed Easter Sunday as the feast of all feasts. Those who already reside abroad or other nearby provinces always find time to go home and be with their cabalens (townmates) in commemorating the Maleldo,” he said.

“So it has always been from the 19th century - said old folk local journalists interviewed in the early ‘60s - that Easter Sunday is honored with pomp and pageantry unique to Sto. Tomas,” he noted.

“While the salubong - the first meeting between the Virgin Mother and the Risen Christ - is celebrated in all Catholic churches, here the event is spiced up with a puso-puso - a multi-layered heart-shaped funnel (resembling an inverted flower) that opens up at intervals after each chanting of the Regina Caeli Laetare, raining confetti and petals on the image of the mourning Virgin Mother below until a little girl dressed as an angel descends from it to take the black veil off Mary,” he related.

“The procession ends in church with a High Mass. By noontime, the faithful congregate anew at the churchyard for the blasting of the effigy of Judas Iscariot,” he said.

On a scaffold, Judas’s effigy is ignited.

“It will be a signature of the Holy Week rites unique to our town as the festival is aimed to complement and enhance our rich tradition of Easter Sunday in cooperation with the municipality of Sto. Tomas to further boost our local tourism and promote our world-class products,” said Samuel Santos, chairman of the town’s Holy Week 2010 executive committee.

Santos said petals and confetti will literally rain on the procession route around the Poblacion, starting at 2 p.m. of Easter Sunday, as revelers join groups coming from the town’s seven barangays in street dancing.

“In effect, Sabuaga will serve as a one-stop showcase of the spirituality, culture, and industry of the people of Sto. Tomas,” Nucum said. - With Ding Cervantes, Dino Balabo and Manny Galvez