San Fernando City, Pampanga – Every year during holy week, local and foreign tourists flocked to Pampanga to witness the annual reenactment of crucifixion. Today Twenty-five (25) penitents will be nailed to the cross today.
Among those who will be nailed to the cross is a woman named Luciana Reyes, 48, of Paombong, Bulacan. According to Reyes this is her 19th time that she will undergo crucifixion. Twenty-three male penitents and another woman will be nailed along with Reyes in 3 barangays – San Pedro Cutud, Sta. Lucia, and San Juan.
Reyes who used to do it in Barangay Kapitagan, Paombong Bulacan, said that she will be doing it in Barangay Cutud, San Fernando.
Penitents undergo physical examination before crucifixion to determine their fitness. Penitents vowed to continue reenacting the Crucifixion as a sign of atonement for their sins and for other people’s as well. Others said that they were reenacting the crucifixion after ailments they suffered, and those of their relatives, were "miraculously healed."
The ceremonies in San Pedro Cutud will include the dramatization of the Way of the Cross or the “Via Crucis”. "Via Crucis" designates a stretch of road between the Antonia fortress and Golgotha, along which Jesus Christ walked, bowed under the weight of the Cross. Ruben Enaje will portray the role of Jesus Christ. Enaje also portrayed the part of Christ during the previous years.