330. THE TRANSPORTED DEVOTION OF BACOLOR'S VIRGEN DE LOURDES TO CABIAO, NUEVA ECIJA

CABETICAN;S LOURDES IN CABIAO, N. E.

Cabiao is a town in Nueva Ecija where Kapampangan is still widely spoken. That’s because it used to be a part of the province of Pampanga, until it was annexed to Nueva Ecija, along with  Gapan, San Isidro, Cabiao and Aliaga around 1848.

As such, many original Kapampangan families can still be found there, still speaking their mother tongue and living the ways of their  own culture. The Kapampangans were clustered in a place called Likod—so named because it was located at the back of the church—and it was here that the extraordinary devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes of Cabetican, Bacolor was introduced and propagated.

 

THE RELIGIOUS PRINT OF LOURDES

In  barangay Maligaya, a chapel now stands, where, a small, antique print of the Cabetican Lourdes can be seen atop the altar, framed in silver. The story of how this revered object of veneration came to Cabiao is told and printed on a small tarpaulin poster that hangs on the iron grill gate of the chapel.

In the 1930s, a Kapampangan woman named Gertrudes Dizon-Castañeda, had a reputation for seeing visions. Her granddaughter, Lucita Castañeda-Vivas, recalls that her Impong Tuding was often seen talking to herself, or so it seems. But in fact, her Impo claims that she was conversing with an old woman, whom she alone could see.

THE LOURDES STORY AT THE CABIAO SHRINE

 One day, this old woman, as the story goes, asked her to go to Cabetican in Bacolor to look for a particular picture of a lady there —and to bring it to Cabiao. Impong Tuding obeyed her order, and even though she had no idea how to go to Bacolor by herself, she reached the barrio on the feast day of our Lady of Lourdes.

After walking all over the barrio, Impong Tuding found the picture of the lady. She was sure it was the right one, as she could not take single step after she had beheld it.  But by then, she had run out of funds to pay for the print, so she sadly returned to Cabiao without it.

To her amazement, when she got back to cabio and began unpacking, she discovered the small print of the Lady among her belongings, bearing the caption : ING MAPAGMALA NANG LARAUAN NING NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LOURDES. Daralangiñan da qñg Santuario Cabetican, Baculud (Pampanga)

 

VIRGEN DE LOURDES BY FLORES

Our Lady of Lourdes became the patroness of Cabetican in 1906, when the populace was hit by a pestilence. The devotion was brought to the Philippines by Capuchin fathers, who had a church built in 1892 in honor of our Lady of Lourdes. Sculptor Manuel Flores was commissioned to make  a statue of the Virgin, who appeared to shepherdess Bernadette Soubirous in a grotto in Massabielle, France in 1858.

 

         ANTIQUE PRINT BASED ON VIRGEN DE
         LOURDES OF THE CAPUCHINS

The people of Cabetican asked for intercession from Virgen de Lourdes for the healing of the sick and to end the plague, which resulted in many miraculous recoveries.  A religious book to mark the miracle was printed by the printing press of Proceso Pabalan Byron entitled: “ING MALA NING VIRGEN LOURDES 1906, CABETICAN, BACULUD, CAPAMPAÑGAN. Qñg Mipnung Lugud Ampon Pacamal Mecopia ya iti qñg Imprenta nang  Proceso Pabalan Byron a Sinulat nang Jose Crisostomo Soto a Metung Munaman Sacsi qñgMesabing Mala Iniang ing balen Baculud Mirasnan ya qñg Salut …Ñgening Ala ne qñg Tau ing Sucat Ipanulu qñg Dios carin Panintunan”

 

LOURDES PRINTS, bhy Byron, and an unknown lithographer

(Translation: “The Miracle of the Virgin of Lourdes, 1906, Cabetican, Bacolor, Pampanga. By all the goodness and love, we caused this story to be published in the printing press of Proceso Pabalan Byron, written by Jose Crisostomo Soto, one the witnesses to the miracle when Bacolor was hit by pestilence. Now that the cure is no longer in the hands of the people, it is in God that we search for a cure. ) 

THE ALTAR OF LOURDES AT BRGY, MALIGAYA

That’s how the religious print of the Virgen  de Lourdes of Cabetican found its way to Cabiao, and for awhile was kept in Impong Tuding’s nipa hut. She hanged it on her wall and the picture inexplicably began to get wet. The more she wiped off the wetness, the wetter the picture got. Word went around the barrio about this unexplained that was deemed as a miracle, and soon people began flocking to Impong Tuding’s hovel to pray to Virgin de Lourdes from Cabetican.

The duplicate image of our Lady of Lourdes and the sacred but tattered print are now housed in a shrine that was built through donations to accommodate the faithful and the pilgrims who go there. The roof and ceiling were added in 1993.

 

THE LOURDES SHRINE, FRONTAGE

Descendants of Impong Tuding are the caretakers of the shrine; they keep the premises clean, as well as sell candles for devotees to light. Cabiao and Cabetican, together with their Kapampangan faithful, have now been united by one Lady, who continue to shower them with blessings and graces, wherever they may be.

326. TATANG: THE SEATED CHRIST OF GUIMBA, by Fred J. Reyes

By Fred J. Reyes / Philippine Panorama, 15 April 1984

Photography: Joey de Vera

THE SEATED CHRIS OF GUIMBA

How “Tatang” Brought Peace and Prosperity to a Family in Nueva Ecija

In Guimba, Nueva Ecija, enshrined in a chapel beside a rice mill, is a life-size crucifix that has drawn throngs of devotees the past 6 years. People reverently refer to the fgure on the Cross as “Tatang”.

“Tatang” is no ordinary version of the Crucifixion. Unlike most other representations of the Holy Cross, Christ here is nailed on both wrists and feet. A block of wood juts out between the thighs, serving as a seat and propping up the upper portions of the body.

The most common crucifix shows Christ nailed on His palms and His feet, and His body pressed flat against the cross.

PHOTO BY JOEY DE VERA

Some Biblical researchers say that this could not have been the way Christ was crucified. His nailed palms, they say, could not have been sufficient to carry the rest of His six-foot frame and would surely have been torn loose after a short time on the cross. Thus, the seat-like projection between His thighs, which the Roman soldiers as an afterthought, both to prevent the palms from being torn apart and to prolong Christ’s agony.

These researchers further say that the French sculptor who made the first such depiction claimed he had seen it in a dream. This crucifix is said to be known in many parts of Europe as “the seated Christ”.

“Tatang”, as the seated Christ in Guilba is beter known among residents and visitors, was sculpted by a Filipino—Rey Estonatoc, who has a studio in Pag-asa, Quezon City. The wooden image shows so profound a suffering that many first-timer to the place, including wizened old men, have been seen crying unashamedly before it.

Rosario Divino Sta. Inez vda. De Santos, matriarch of the family which owns the chapel, says Tatang has brought peace and prosperity to her household and perhaps to hundreds of other people since His arrival there in 1978. She is particularly thankful for the change in the life of the youngest of her four sons, Fred, who she says was once a black sheep of the family.

Fred, she says, used to be unemployed but also was invoLved in some michief or other. “He used to bring nothing into the house but trouble, all kinds of trouble”.

At the height of Fred’s youthful escapades in early 1977, well-meaning friends succeeded in making him enter a cursillo. They had unsuccessfully tried to make him do so twice before.

When he finally attended one, he noticed, after a few sessions, a crucifix of the Seated Christ that had been brought into the cursillo house by a certain Delfin Cruz.

A wooden image of profound suffering.

It was the first time that Fred saw such a crucifix and his curiosity was aroused.When he asked around, one cursillista, Jose Dijamco, told him that as far as he was concerned that was the faithful reproduction of the Crucifixion. Impressed, Fred made a vow to have a replica of the crucifix someday.

Two weeks after the cursillo, Fred became a changed man he ceased to be the troublemaker that his family used to know and now went all over the barrios of Guimba doing apostolate work. In one of his sorties, a friend came up to him to offer a wo-and-a-half acre farm for cultivation. “It was my very first job offer,” says Fred,”and I readily accepted.”

He had just finished planting the farm to rice when a kumpadre offered him 4more hectares for cultivation. Again, he accepted. “Kaya, eto, umitim na ako, kakatrabaho sa bukid”., he now says, calling attention to his deep tan.

The harvest in both farms was bountiful. He reaped 105 cavans to a hectare , which set him off to a good start in the rice business.For the first time in his life, Fred says, he found fulfillment: “So this is how it feels to sweat and get rewarded for your own labor”, he recalls saying to himself.

Still, something seemed lacking in his life. Often thinking about it, he soon began to have dreams about the crucifix, sometimes with the Virgin Mary floating with it in the clouds. When he recounted his dreams to Dijamco, who by then had become his spiritual adviser, the latter reminded him of his promise to acquire a replica of the Seated Christ. N Fred’s request, Dijamco eventually found a sculptor to make one for him.

The crucifix was finished in October 1978, and Fred, along with Dijamco and a close friend, Cris Ang, drove in a van from Guimba to estonactoc’s studio in Quezon City to get it.“A storm was raging then”, recalls Ang. “But on our way back, it seemed to have calmed down.”

He also remembers that the crucifix they brought back with them attracted lots of curious (and awed) onlookers along the way, so that they had to stop a number of times to enable people to take a close look. As a result, it took them 8 hours, instead of the usual 3, to get back to Guimba.

The crucifix also seemed to have grown heavier, according to Ang. Only 4 people were needed to load it into the van in Quezon City but when they arrived in Guimba, 12 pairs of hands had to bring it inside the chapel owned by Fred’s family.

NAILED AND BOUND FEET. PROLONGING CHRIST'S AGONY.
Photo: Joey de Vera

Fred says his dream about the crucifix has never recurred since its arrival and he now feels completely at peace with the world. “I used to attend mass only 5 or 10 times a year and I stayed outside the church at that. Now I remember God through Tatang every day of the year.”

And instead of scaring people away during his days of mischief, Fred now seems to draw people to him—people in need of help, especially. But Fred doesn’t mind giving them help. “When you give to the poor, you’re fulfilling the tithe required by the Church.”

His mother, Rosario, who tends a small sari-sari store besides managing the family rice mill, says she is the happiest about the things that Tatang has done fro her sons and the rest of her family.

“We used to have every kind of problem, financial and other wise,” she says. “Now all these problems seem to have vanished. We’ve paid all our debts and sent our children to the best schools and have something lef to buy lands and other properties.”

Here 3 other sons—Renato, Oscar and Albert, who had their own “youthful flings” have also grown prosperous, apart from being law-abiding and God-fearing men. Oscar, a town councilman and military officer, assists at Mass every Sunday. A son of Fred and a son of Roberto are in the seminary, studying for the priesthood.

Matriarch Rosario vda. De Santos, with
granddaughters. Peace with the coming of Tatang.

Tatang, for his part, has become something of an institution in Guimba. Every now and then, people attribute “little miracles” to him. Sometime, in 1979, when a rift divided the town’s cursillistas, the statue,  made of hard ipil,  reportedly developed a crack on the face, from the forehead to the bridge of the nose. The crack was said to have closed only after the cursillistas had settled their differences.

The chapel, while privately owned,  is open to everyone, and Fred says, that like him, countless other people may have been moved by the seated Christ to change their ways.

He attributes to tatang all the good things that have happened to him and his family. “He is as powerful as the man-God he represents.”

Fred says, however, he never asked Tatang directly for the material things that he has now. “Ask him for anything, except material things.”

All that he prayed for, Fred recalls, was faith, fortitude and endurance in the “rat  race” of this world.

279. Vanishing Traditions: DIA DE LOS TRES REYES (TATLONG HARI)

MAY TATLONG HARING NAGSIDALAW. 3 Kings Parish, Gapan, N.Ecija

Time was when the Feast of the Epiphany or  3 Kings was a fixed date—January 6—which also marked the end of the Christmas season. With the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar,  the date has become  variable,  celebrated on the first Sunday of January.

THE 3 KINGS, part of the Nativity Set of the Three Kings Parish, Gapan, N.E.

Gapan, Nueva Ecija has the distinction of having a parish named after the 3 Kings—and, together with the Virgin Mary as Divina Pastora, are considered patron saints of the city—even if the biblical Magi are not saints. 

THE ANTIQUE IMAGES OF GAPAN'S TATLONG HARI.

There are at least three sets of the kings known in Gapan—the antique, dressed festejadas that are processioned every January 6, the all-wood images in the altar of Nativity, and a set of devotional images of the Adorable family, now in the U.S.

VIEW THE 3 KINGS PROCESSION HERE:

In the Philippines, the 3 Kings were looked at as gift-givers, the way Americans looked at Santa Claus. This began in the Spanish times when the “Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos” was celebrated in Filipino homes with feasting, merry-making and gift-giving. Children would leave their buffed shoes all in arrow outside their rooms to find them stuffed with gifts the next morning—courtesy of the 3 Kings!

CASA ESPANOL'S TRES REYES MAGOS, in horseback, Manila. 1935.

The Spanish community kept the custom alive, even after the Americans introduced their own Christmas, through the efforts of Casino Español de Manila, a socio-civic-recreational club founded in 1844 for Spaniards living in Manila. On January 6, Spaniards dressed like Melchor, Gazpar and Balthazar, take to the streets lined with Spanish children to distribute gifts.

JUAN SOUCHEIRON, as Baltazar, 1935.

 Instead of camels, the Kings ride horses, wending their way as children cheer. To this day, Casino Español has continued to celebrate the 3 Kings’ gift-giving tradition without the pompous street parade, limiting the activities at the Casino de Español grounds.  The Feast of 3 Kings is also known as “Araw ng Matatanda” in the Philippines.

Sources:

Vanishing Christmas Tradition, "FilipiKnow" by Alex R. Castro

“Celebration of 3 Kings”, The Philippine Free Press,  12 December 1936, p. 28-29

Many thanks to Reichardt Lionel (Richard Dino) and John Kevin Ligon for the use of their 3 Kings photos from their facebook page.

youtube: Three Kings procession, Gapan City, uploaded by nejournal, 5 January 2009. Three Kings of Gapan

121. RETRO-SANTO: San Geronimo of Baloc, Nueva Ecija

 SAN GERONIMO (ST. JEROME), patron saint of Baloc, Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija. A donation of Mr. A.A. Nunez and Family.

In a chapel in Baloc, in Brgy. Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija is enshrined a small image of the town patron, San Geronimo, Doctor of the Church (340-420). It was donated by the Nuñez Family in 1961. The carved figure depicts San Geronimo as a cardinal, in a red cardinal hat and cape, based on an erroneous legend from the Medieval age that the saint was a prince of the Church.

His most popular representation depicts him as a hermit in the dessert, where he stayed for four years. The legend then turns to the story of St. Jerome's pulling a thorn from a lion's paw. In gratitude the lion is said to have become a sort of lay brother in Jerome's monastery, doing chores for him.

The Baloc image shows the animal attributed to him by his side. Actually this story was transferred to him from the tradition of St. Gerasimus, but a lion is not an inappropriate symbol for so fearless a champion of the faith.

There is another image of San Geronimo in Sto. Domingo housed in the small chapel of the Iglesia Filipiniana Independiente, visited by both Catholics and IFI devotees during its September 30 feast day. His feast day is marked with lighting of red candles and a procession.

67. DR. RAYMUND F. FELICIANO: Giving Santos Their Best Shot

This exclusive interview series first appeared as SSF Personalan on Semana Santa Filipinas, the biggest online group of santo owners and enthusiasts. It features personalities directly involved in the “santo trade”: ecclesiastical artists, carvers, artisans, encarnadors, painters, lateros, bordadors, costureras, cultural activists and avid santo fans. Today's featured subject is a doctor of medicine with a unique passion. For over two decades now, he has been taking pictures of our Holy Week traditions--santos, religious processions, churches, Lenten exhibits--all over the Islands, from back in the days of analog photography to the age of digital cameras. The result of this lifetime undertaking are thousands and thousands of santo photos compiled in over 70 albums and donated to the Center for Kapampangan Studies of Holy Angel University in Angeles City.


DR. RAYMUND FELICIANO, 43, is a clinical pathologist who currently teaches pathology subjects at St. Luke’s Hospital in Q.C.. A resident of Angeles, his paternal roots are in Mabalacat. Not only are we townmates, but we also discovered we went to the same small high school in the city—Chevalier School (although in my time, it was known as Sacred Heart Seminary). He graduated from the College of Medicine at UST in 1989. Over donuts, coffee and Coke, SSF sat down one afternoon with Dr. Feliciano to talk about his passion for photography, travel, religious processions and our revered Semana Santa traditions.

- - - - - -

Q: DOC, FIRST, ALLOW ME TO THANK YOU FOR COMING OVER ON A WEEK-END TO CHAT WITH ME ON SUCH A VERY SHORT NOTICE. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. THIS WILL BE A REVELATION TO YOU—BUT DO YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IN CYBERSPACE ARE ACTUALLY FAMILIAR WITH YOUR PHOTOS BECAUSE OVER 500 OF THEM ARE UPLOADED ON 2 FLICKR GROUPS—SEMANA SANTA FILIPINAS AND SANTOS: IMAGE OF FAITH?


DR. F: Well, a flickr member sounded me off that my Holy Week pictures daw are regularly posted on flickr, so I must thank you too for doing that. To be honest, I thought I was alone in my interest for religious processions and Holy Week imageries, so it came quite as a surprise when you showed me the flickr groups and the photo pools that contained my pictures. Ang dami palang santo enthusiasts. Yes, I did read about Semana Santa Filipinas in a recent Inquirer article. Now I have started making friends with complete strangers..

Q: WE ARE OF COURSE, AMAZED AT THE QUANTITY OF SEMANA SANTA PHOTOS YOU HAVE TAKEN AND AMASSED IN DOZENS OF ALBUMS..THE FIRST OBVIOUS QUESTION IS, HOW AND WHEN DID YOU START?


DR.F: I have always been a photography buff. In college, I took photographs which found their way in our school organ. This was in the late 1980s. I was just toting an instamatic camera then.. switched to a standard analog camera. If you noticed, yung earliest albums ko of Pampanga churches, from way back 1987-1989 yun. I wasn’t serious then, mga typical works lang yun of an amateur student photographer..

Q: BUT WHY THE SPECIAL INTEREST IN RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS?

STO. ENTIERRO, Mabalacat, Pampanga

DR.F: Yung earliest recollection ko kasi was going to the Holy Week processions in Mabalacat, hometown ng late father ko. He used to take us there to watch the processions. Kahit konti lang yung mga santo, naaaliw din ako, kasi, puro antiques. Antique images hold some fascination for me. especially when they are in their carrozas..That opened my eyes to the enduring appeal of our religious processions.

Q: WHEN DID YOU START BECOMING SERIOUS IN PURSUING THIS HOBBY?

STO. ENTIERRO, Samal, Bulacan

DR.F: I actually found inspirations from 2 things. Yung una, yung program na “Travel Time”, hosted by Susan Calo-Medina. I watched that program a lot, and got hooked on the interesting places they feature…yung mga provincial scenes. Then, I found this book “Simbahan”, written by Regalado Trota-Jose, which featured a “must-visit” list of different churches in the Philippines. It also had chapters on sacred art like santos, that piqued my interest. It was simply a matter of making my interests converge—travel, santo, photography. So, in 1993, I decided to embark on a yearly pilgrimage to different places, and to capture in pictures the different provincial Holy Week festivities.

AGONY IN THE GARDEN, Polo, Bulacan

Armed with a copy of the “Simbahan” book, I systematically started to cover the 23 towns of Pampanga. I just commuted then, I traveled by jeep, by bus. I took pictures of churches first, often asking permission from the parish priests, o kung wala sila, from their secretaries. They allow me naman to take photos.

LA PIEDAD, Paete, Laguna

After Pampanga, I went to Bulacan, then Laguna. I had to get myself a map as I was unfamiliar with most of the places outside of Pampanga. So, yun yung unang na-cover ko in 1993—Pampanga, Bulacan and Laguna.

TANGGAL SA CRUZ, Malolos, Bulacan

The next year, 1994, I covered the Holy Monday procession in La Union and Ilocos Sur, then I went back south for the Holy Wednesday procession in Dasmarinas, Cavite, and headed home to Pampanga para naman sa Good Friday events.

STA. MAGDALENA, Guiguinto, Bulacan

Q: WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF WHAT YOU HAVE COVERED SO FAR? HOW DO YOU FIND TIME FOR THESE? PLANNING THESE TRIPS MUST BE A LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE..

DR.F: Down south, I have gone as far as Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo. Up north, I have gone as far as Claveria, Cagayan. My most recent photo trips this year were in Tabaco, Daraga and Legazpi, all in Albay.

CRUCIFIXION, Molo, Iloilo

I have learned to plan these things in advance, so long before Holy Week, may itinerary ako. I have no qualms about riding a plane, at kung walang plane, a boat, or a jeep. Yung mga places to sleep over naman, thank God, wherever I go, may acquaintances at friends naman ako, so I usually get free lodgings..

LA ULTIMA CENA, San Pablo, Laguna

Q: SURELY, YOU MUST HAVE A LOT OF INTERESTING SIDE STORIES TO TELL IN YOUR ANNUAL PHOTO ODYSSEY AROUND THE COUNTRY? CAN YOU SHARE THESE WITH US?

STA. VERONICA, Paranaque

DR.F: Oh, a lot. Halimbawa, I was really excited to see the churches that were featured in Trota’s book, “Simbahan”. Using the book as a guide, I went to visit the pictured churches, but sadly, they are no longer as they used to be. Some of the rich, colonial architecture have been irrevocably altered as in the case of the churches in Moncada, Tarlac. Yung sa Cardona, Rizal also disappointed me. And the one in Jala-Jala. I was also shocked with the way the church in Montalban, Rizal was refurbished, wala ng air of antiquity, except for a couple of santos.

VIRGEN DE LA SOLEDAD, Sta. Ana

I also have observed variances in local Lenten customs. Many practices have been “customized”. For example, yung oras ng prusisyons may vary. In Angeles City, 5 p.m., but in Sta. Ana, it is as late as 8:30 in the evening.

PRUSISYON, Bacoor, Cavite.

Then, there are the quaint Palm Sunday processions in Maragondon, Cavite. All the santos associated with the Passion, including the Resurrected Christ, but excluding the Sto. Entierro, participate in the procession. Same for Polo, Valenzuela in Bulacan. The Church allows only the images of the Dolorosa and the Sto. Entierro on Good Friday, so that’s the only way the other images can come out in processions.

GOOD FRIDAY SANTOS, Valenzuela, Bulacan

In Baliwag, a procession is held during the “Linggo ng Pagpapakasakit”. In Bulacan. Bulacan, there’s a Holy Tuesday procession. In Molo, Iloilo and Cabiao, Nueve Ecija, there a procession is held on Holy Thursday.

SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR, Cabiao, Nueva Ecija

In 1994, I was lucky to have observed and photographed the last complete Bacolor procession. Because the following year, the lahar engulfed the town and the procession fell into disarray.

STA. SALOME, Guagua, Pampanga

Q: WHAT ABOUT THE SANTOS THEMSELVES, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS ABOUT RELIGIOUS IMAGES FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY?

DOLOROSA, Daet, Camarines Sur

DR.F: Oh, so many range of characters and expressions. In Balaoan, La Union, yung mga santos doon—from San Juan Ebanghelista to Sta. Magdalena--, may distinct Chinese features. I have seen smiling Dolorosas. Yung sa Tanay, Rizal, yung Dolorosa doon, gulat and expression. Yung sa Bacolor, halos puti na lang yung nakikita sa mata ng Dolorosa, with her upward gaze.

DOLOROSA, Tanay, Rizal

Identifying santos now has become easier as most of the carrozas come with labels on which is written the santo’s name. I am pretty much familiar with the names of santos and tableaus, although occasionally, I am stumped with the usual Salome-Jacobe-Cleofe mix-up.

RESURRECION, Angono, Rizal

Q: QUICK, GIVE ME 5 PLACES WITH THE BEST-LOOKING SEMANA SANTA IMAGES.

DR.F: One would be Sasmuan, Pampanga with their antique santos and fabulous carrozas. Two, the antique images of the inland towns of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. Three, the antique santos of Balayan, Batangas. Four, the images of Binan, Laguna. Five, the images of Vigan.

TERCERA CAIDA, Balayan, Batangas

JESUS MEETS HER MOTHER, tabletop tableaux. Binan, Laguna.

CRUCIFIED CHRIST, Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Q: AND YOUR VOTE FOR THE BEST CALANDRA?

DR.F: That has got to be the calandras of Sta. Rita, Bacolor, Sasmuan and Guagua.

SASMUAN CALANDRA, Sasmuan, Pampanga

GUAGUA CALANDRA, Pampanga

Q: BEST DOLOROSA?

DR.F: The Good Friday Dolorosa of Guagua, also those of Vigan, Arayat, Sta. Barbara in Iloilo and Mabalacat.

DOLOROSA, Guagua, Pampanga

DOLOROSA, Arayat, Pampanga

Q: BEST VERONICA?

DR.F: Sta. Cruz, Marinduque, Vigan and Mabalacat’s Veronica.

STA. VERONICA, Mabalacat, Pampanga

Q: BEST SAN JUAN? MAGDALENA? SAN PEDRO?

SAN JUAN, Meycauayan, Bulacan

DR. F: The San Juans of Meycauayan and Daet are my choices. The Magdalena of Meycauayan, Cainta, Arayat and Minalin. The antique Magdalena of Angeles has a one-of-a-kind headdress. For San Pedro, the ones of Lubao and Vigan.

SAN PEDRO, Lubao, Pampanga

Q: FOURTEEN YEARS OF PHOTO DOCUMENTATION AND YOU’RE STILL AT IT. HOW LONG DO YOU PLAN TO DO THIS?

DR. F: For as long as I can. In fact, I have visited some places twice. Though next year, my travels are going to be limited. I have just lost my father this year, and so my available free time will now be dedicated to caring for my mother. Next year, I will limit my trips to nearby provinces. I am looking at visiting and photographing the processions of Capas and Concepcion towns in Tarlac.

LA PIEDAD, Concepcion, Tarlac

Q: AS A PARTING SHOT, ANY MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERS OF SSF AND SIF WHO ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR PHOTOS FROM YOUR ALBUMS?

DR.F: Thanks for the interest in my work. We are like classmates with a common interest for santos and Semana Santa traditions. See you next Holy Week!

STO. ENTIERRO, Albay

Q: WELL, THANK YOU TOO FOR ENTRUSTING YOUR ALBUMS TO THE UNIVERSITY. REST ASSURED THEY WILL REMAIN IN GOOD HANDS SO THAT RESEARCHERS, HISTORIANS AND SANTO ENTHUSIASTS WILL FIND USE FOR THEM AS VALUABLE VISUAL REFERENCES OF OUR HOLY WEEK TRADITIONS FOR HERE AND IN THE FUTURE.