The Passion of PH

PASSION WEEK in the Philippines is a study in contrast. All industrial and other activities ground to a halt and cities come to a standstill as Filipinos take to the Holy Week rituals with a passion that approximates the zeal usually seen in España Viejo (Spain) and España Nuevo (Mexico). But while much of the traditional Lenten ceremonies especially in Madre España have survived merely as cultural artifacts to satiate tourists’ curiosity for the archaic, the colorful and the bizarre, the Philippines, like Mexico which just recently welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with unabashed fervor, has cleaved to these practices with stubborn piety. Catholicism is alive and well in the Philippines.

In fact, the problem may be that there’s so much surfeit of ardor. In the run-up to the semana santa, CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma discouraged the practice of some Filipinos to be nailed on the cross on Good Friday. He issued the statement following reports that 20 people would be crucified on April 6 in Barangays Pedro Catud, Santa Lucia and San Juan, all in Pampanga. He told the Church-run Radio Veritas that while penitents have their own reasons for wanting to be nailed on the cross, the Catholic Church frowns on these practices. Meanwhile, in Baclaran’s Redemptorist Church early yesterday morning, Palm Sunday observants dipped their palms in the holy water fount even before the first Sunday Mass (when the priest blesses them), eager as they were to take them home as talismans that they believe would endow their possessors with invincibility.

But Lenten ardor stands in stark contrast to the seemingly sheer indifference by a great cross-section of Metro Manilans who would hie off to Boracay or any of the trendy beach resorts across the archipelago to spend the long holiday in bacchanalian abandon. Trust the blue-chip mobile and telecom companies to spend large advertising budgets on high-profile beach parties and other marketing events where the staples are celebrities and models in bikinis or sheer beach dishabille, loud party music, and lots of booze—the Roman orgy of decadence transposed to tropical splendor. Trust the tacky advertising industry to bank on the old staples of sex and violence and revive paganism’s fortunes against Christian self-denial and asceticism. Heathen sybaritism is alive and well in Catholic Philippines.

But amid the racket, religious or irreligious, Holy Week with its powerful symbolism and deeply resonating meanings plunges the entire world into silence and compels everyone to contemplate. It is perhaps this silence—brooding, impenetrable—that capitalist advertising seeks to gag by loud commerce and marketing gimmickry. But the silence cannot be stifled or quashed. Like Francis Thompson’s “Hound of Heaven,” it stalks and hunts its prey; there’s no eluding it.

The stillness of Holy Week affords a retreat for everyone coming to terms with the world and the self. Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes has urged President Aquino to take time off from his hectic schedule during the Holy Week for a quiet retreat and some self-reflection. “[He] should not (only) rely on [his] intelligence or prudence but as the leader of the nation, he has to ask guidance from the Holy Spirit … because it is not easy to govern the Philippines,” said the prelate after news came out that the President has a lot on his plate for Holy Week, including a trip to Cambodia for an Asean meeting.

Similarly, the nation has a lot on its plate: the prolonged agony of the impeachment trial of its chief jurist; high petroleum prices and power rates (already the highest in the region) set to increase further; meanwhile, its southern frontier, Mindanao, suffers from 2- to 4-hour daily brownouts as a result of an energy crisis.

Insurgencies continue to rage. “I hope that both sides would declare a ceasefire as a sign of respect in our observance of Lent,” Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso said. “The Lenten season is also a time for peace and reconciliation.” A ceasefire must also be observed between government troops and the Moro insurgents in Mindanao, said Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon.

Plunging into the silence and stillness of Holy Week, the nation may reflect on Pope Benedict XVI’S powerful Lenten message this year, which was drawn from Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.... If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts.”