Semana Santa or Holy Week is the last week of Lent, the week immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is observed in many Christian churches as a time to commemorate and enact the suffering (Passion) and death of Jesus through various observances and services of worship. While some church traditions focus specifically on the events of the last week of Jesus’ life.
Here in the Philippines, being the only Christian nation in the Far East, Holy Week observance is very eminent for this is the time of the year for penitence. Various colorful and sometimes gory rituals in different regions are practiced such as ‘senakulos’ or the reenactment of the passsion of Christ, ’pabasa’, seven days of singing and reading of the Passion and Death taken from the verses of the Bible that has evolved from traditional to modern way of singing (rap, ballad or upbeat); or Visita Iglesia, where believers visit 14 churches representing the fourteen stations of the cross.
For some, especially the urban dwellers, they opt to go out of town and take advantage of the long weekend by basking in the beach. Boracay, with its fine white sand, is one of the favorite destinations among the locals and tourists as well.
Well, I didn’t go to Boracay but I did go out of town. Actually, I had an assignment in my photography class, a photo essay about holy week observance. My initial plan was to do Visita Iglesia in Metro Manila on Maunday Thursday and Holy Friday with Rosahlee. I thought that it’s a lot easier to cover though Monday of that week Rosahlee and I had already taken photos of the Cenakulo in Barangka, Mandaluyong. Last minute, I decided to explore the Moriones Festival in Marinduque. First consideration was that I haven’t been in Marinduque, I’m sure it’s a nice place to explore. Second, I have relatives, my aunt Salve and her family live in Gasan, Marinduque that I can visit.
I left Manila Wednesday night at 11:30pm via JAC liner stationed in Cubao. As expected, traffic was really gruesome! Sleeping was my way to endure the ennui. It took less than 4 hours (2:50am) to reached the Talao-Talao Pier in Dalahican, Lucena City. From inside the bus, I can already see the loooong queue of passengers waiting for the ticket. There’s also a separate row for vehicles waiting in line to get on board the ship. ‘Twas another dreadful experience because I had lined up and waited until 10am hoping to get a ticket. I was tempted to back out and planned to take the second bus back to Manila. I went in front of the ticket counter and noticed that some porters were actually selling tickets double the price out of the ticket counter. I can’t believed I traded with those scambag and bought one ticket because I have to take that day trip or else I will have to wait until tomorrow for another ferry trip. If that happens I would definitely miss my purpose of photographing the Moriones Festival. The lack of organized process in the ticketing system proved to be a perennial inconvenience to passengers. 
At long last, I got on board the Montenegro ship 11:30am. Vehicles were no longer allowed to get on board to make way for the furious passengers. Getting on board was exigent.As soon as the vessel docked passengers trooped the wharf area. I was carrying a heavy backpack and a separate bag for my camera. The weight of my bags doubled because people at the back were pushing their way in. The flocked of people will literally get you in without even trying to walk. I pity those passengers carrying babies and small kids. Everybody just wanted to get in! One passenger holler “Ano bang meron sa Marinduque” (“What is in Marinduque?) and a deserving feedback was “MORIONES!”, that somehow eased the tension. :)
After two hours of standing, we safely arrived at the Balanacan Pier. From Balanacan Pier, I took a tricycle going to Boac. I would have taken a jeepney ride direct to Gasan but I took a snack first after boarding not knowing that there’s not much jeep available hence, the tricycle ride. From Boac, I rode a jeepney going to Gasan. I took the front seat near the driver so I can ask him for direction. I communicated with my cousins Tintin and Eric thru text messaging for direction. They were expecting me since morning but because of delay I arrived in Gasan past 2pm. From not so distant waiting shed, I saw my aunt Salve, who looks just like my mother, sitting and patiently waiting for me. 
My aunt’s place is moderately big with a typical provincial house not that big but very welcoming. The house is adorned with plants and flowers. Animals abound; they have cats, dogs, fowl, hogs as well as butterflies. My aunt Salve breed butterflies at their backyard that she sells for P7-10 each. She’s very enterprising; she also has a sari-sari store. A few minutes after arriving at my aunt’s place, I joined my uncle Celso and cousin Eric to visit the town of Gasan. It’s a small town and to me it looks peaceful. I liked the old Spanish houses. We went to the municipal hall and took few flyers and copy of programme details. Then we checked out the venue of cenakulo or “Pugutan ng Ulo” (reenactment of beheading Longhino) where bunch of students are practicing for Saturday night’s presentation. I have seen some men donned their Roman-centurion masks inspired costumes (called Morions) along the streets. I wasted no time and took photos of their colorful costumes. We also strolled in nearby church, park and port area. Then we went back home and prepared for dinner.
Apr6 - Holy Friday, Moriones Festival in Boac - We woke early and ate “suman” or rice cake for breakfast. My cousins Mellany(7yrsOld), Eric, Ojie and wife Girlie and their daughter all accompanied me to watch the Moriones Festival. We all rode the tricycle that Eric driven going to Boac which took us less than half an hour. Boac is the province capital town. We were just on time as people already taking their position on both sides of the streets. A few minutes after, we have seen the centurions and a man portraying Jesus Christ was carrying the cross. He’s wearing a maroon robe with ropes around his waist. The scorching heat of the sun makes it even more difficult for him to carry the heavy cross on his shoulder. It’s very nice to see centurions wearing colorful costumes. From time to time they take off the masks because of the heat. So many ‘paparazzis’ as expected. I even saw sir Vic Sison, my instructor in photography. 
Apr 7 – Black Saturday. Tiangge Day Saturday is “tiangge” day in the town of Gasan. My aunt Salve is a regular trader. She’s renting a small space to sell her merchandise (rice, corn feeds, grocery items, etc.). Tianngge starts early in the morning and usually ends 12 noon. It was just walking distance from my aunt’s house so I went to check the place and took photos.In the afternoon, my aunt will again sell the same merchandise (except rice) and drinks (sodas, beer and liquor) near the “sabungan” (cockfight arena). She’s also renting a space for her merchandise. We, Ojie, his wife Girlie and their kids, went to the site to hang around. Ojie and I went inside the arena. The entrance costs P30 but we went inside free of charge for my aunt requested the ticketing officer to let us in just to take photos.
It’s a manly thing to bet in the cockfight but I saw few women inside the arena who are into this kind of betting. It’s similar to a boxing arena. Men are boisterous while placing bet and when the fight is on you can hear a thunderous roar that can almost remove the roof of the dome. Interesting indeed!
At night, aunt Salve and uncle Celso joined me to Gasan town and watched the cenakulo “Pugutan ng Ulo”.
Apr 8 – Easter Sunday. Last day in Gasan. I wasn’t able to watch the “Salubong at Bati” in Gasan because I overslept. Instead, we went to the beach, just 15 minutes away from the house. The heat was just nasty. It was such a relief to dip in the water. We didn’t stay there for long and decided to go back home and had a sumptuous lunch. Aunt Salve had to go also to “sabungan” to sell merchandise. After lunch, I have prepared my bag and packed “pasalubong” that uncle Celso bought that morning in the market. At 2pm, Uncle Celso accompanied me to aunt Salve’s store in “sabungan” where I will be waiting for the jeepney going to the Balanacan Pier. Few minutes after the jeep arrived. I thanked and kissed both aunt and uncle goodbyes.
Surprisingly, the pier was trouble-free. It was a swift getting ticket at the counter. As soon as I got the ticket, I boarded right away. It was past 3pm on my watch. Seats were all taken so I settled at the lower deck near the stairs and I my used my bag to sit on. As usual, there was delay. The vessel left the port quarter to six and thank God we safely reached the Dalahican at 7:50pm. There were buses already waiting at the pier but I hurriedly bought snacks first for dinner before boarding the Jac Liner bus leaving for Cubao.
Once in a while I get to enjoy traveling alone like this. Of course extra care has to be observed especially if you don’t know anyone from a place. I especially like meeting new acquaintances and simply talk about anything under the sun even for just a short encounter.
I wonder where my itchy feet will lead me next time…hmmm! :)
PS. Please click the title to see more of the photos.
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