Photo courtesy of Anything Under the Sun
The Procession de Entiero of Pasig has a reputation with of having a large number of devotees as well as showing an amazing collection of life-size statues of saints.
And since it has been years since I attended a procession, I jumped at the chance to attend this procession when I was invited.
Table of Contents
In the Past
The Procession de Entiero is celebrated on Good Friday, the day Christ died on the cross. Normally starting in the late afternoon or earlier evening, it is the grand funeral procession of Jesus Christ.
This is a very long procession, featuring as many as thirty life-sized statues of the Saints that. All of the statues are placed on floats which at hand-pulled by devotees through the small streets of Pasig proper.
Religious Image. Photo courtesy of Anything Under the Sun.
I was told that the procession would start at around five o’clock in the afternoon and end at around midnight due to its length.
At the end of the procession, is the life-sized statue of Christ lying in a glass coffin.
Roads are closed and traffic is rerouted during this period as the procession goes through several streets before returning to its starting point, which is the Pasig Cathedral.
What adds to the length is the large number of devotees who join in the procession, by walking.
You will find many of them in full costume, such as those of roman soldiers, complete with staffs, shields, and other paraphernalia.
Other than Roman costumes, the tools used during the crucifixion are also carried for display. This includes the hammer, nails, ball of cloth soaked in bile, the crown of thorns, figures of hands in the act of slapping and boxing, the bloodstained tunic of the Jesus Christ, and St. Veronica’s towel bearing the images of the Lord’s face.
Other devotees can also be seen dressed in hooded costumes complete with flagellation equipment, which are really just for show. I haven’t heard of devotees practicing actual self-flagellation in this procession, so things are a bit lighter than the others.
Religious Image. Photo courtesy of Elton A. Reyes.
Instead of self-flagellation, the latter set of devotees walked barefoot during the entire procession. Back then, the roads were in a worse condition than today, so walking barefoot could be a bloody undertaking for some.
Now before you think that this is all gloom, the procession is actually quite festive.
Local and some foreign tourists have cameras with them. While good Samaritans can be found in makeshift booths on the sides of the road to provide free food and water.
During this time, entire families are out in the streets to witness the procession, so it becomes a mini-reunion for many family and friends.
Finally, majority of these statues of Saints belong to the private collections of families in Pasig. And due to their value, size, and weight, they are rarely seen by the public.
For most, they are only brought out during the Procession de Entiero. And since they only come out once a year, these Saints are dressed and decorated to the nines.
In the Present
Due to the length of this year’s procession, I heard that the organizers decided to divide the procession in two, with the first part being held last Wednesday and the second part on the usual Good Friday.
The specific reason given is that the procession has taken so long in the past that it has gone beyond midnight in recent years.
This was a bit of a disappointment for me as I would not be able to attend the first part on Wednesday due to a prior appointment.
Religious Image. Photo courtesy of Elton A. Reyes.
And when I heard that many beautiful and elaborately dressed and decorated Saints were present during this part, I felt more disappointed.
When Good Friday came, I was not sure what time the roads would be closed, so my family made it a point to leave early, which was at about three o’clock in the afternoon.
Since the Procession de Entiero was shorter this time, it started at about six-thirty in the evening; perhaps to spare people the extreme heat that this Good Friday brought.
However, with a much larger population of residents and visitors, my family and I made it a point to still get to the street early and get a good vantage point.
As the tension and excitement in the street started to hit a feverish pitch, the procession finally started after waiting for over an hour.
And I wasn’t disappointed as the procession was all great.
Each statue was dressed in beautiful garments, many of them shined and shimmered in the city lights. Each float was decorated in flowers, some of which were very ornate. And majority of the floats had generators or batteries to power their own lights.
Most of all, each float was still pulled by people, just like they were in the past. Witnessing these devotees pulling, singing, and even cheering as they pulled the floats behind them, added to the excitement of the evening.
It was as festive as it could be as my family and I felt like we were part of the procession, even if we were just watching from the side of the road.
A Few Kinks
Like all things in life, there are a few kinks that my family and I came across for the Procession de Entiero this year.
The first thing is that I was a bit disappointed that the procession was split in to two.
Religious Image. Photo courtesy of Anything Under the Sun.
I overheard many spectators saying that the first half had a lot of beautiful Saints and floats, which I missed.
I hope the organizers decide to go back to having the procession in a single night next year. Not only would many people enjoy the processions, but closing the roads would be less of an inconvenience at it would only be done once instead of twice.
The second thing that I encountered is the major frustration I had for the entire evening.
As you can see, most of the pictures I took were quite blurred. Despite all the fiddling I did with the controls of my point-and-shoot cameras, I couldn’t get it to compensate for my unsteady hands. It also didn’t help that the autofocus ability of my camera was less than stellar.
A tripod might have helped, but the tight streets and thick crowd would make setting up a tripod in the street dangerous for people and the equipment.
In the Future
This is something worth experiencing and I’ll definitely be attending next year’s Procession de Entiero.
The Procession. Photo courtesy of Anything Under the Sun.
On the positive side, we got a lot of things right by being prepared, like going early enough to get a good spot and bringing enough labacaras and water to battle the heat.
One the negative side, I was very frustrated at my inability to take clear pictures. Who knows, maybe by next year I will have one of those new Nikon dSLRs, or at least have someone who has steadier hands than mine!
Happy Easter!
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