Flagellants, faith, customs and traditions

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on March 24, 2008 | Comments

I took Warren for a short visit to my mother’s hometown in Barrio Panipuan, San Fernando, Pampanga last Good Friday to show him a tradition that this quaint village celebrates year after year. Needless to say, it was also a tradition that has formed part of my childhood.

Barrio Panipuan is about 30 minutes from our place in Balibago, Angeles City. We took the old MacArthur Hiway route, passing Telabastagan and stopping by a subdivision at the back of Paning’s to pick up my niece Asia and my sister Aissa. We took a left at Barrio Baliti and went straight ahead towards our point of destination. Just as we were taking a right to enter the village, we were slowed down by a melee of young men. One of them was holding a long rope which, to me, looked like a makeshift “latigo” or whip. He was bent over and talking to another man whose head was covered with a white makeshift turban, he had a crown of bougainvillea stalks, he had no shirt on – just denim pants, was barefooted and his back was soaked in blood. He was holding a cord with short sticks at the end. He whips the cord on his back to make the blood ooze, sometimes, the young man with a whip would take out a bottle of water from his pocket and pour a little on the sticks to make it look like there is just too much blood coming out of the man’s back.

To the Catholics, the man with a blooded backside is called a flagellant, to the Kapampangans he is a mandarame, while the other one with a whip and whose face is uncovered is called a Jew or Hudyo. The whole scene is a supposed reenactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and to many Catholics, the flagellants flagellate themselves as a way of penance for their sins. As a child, I was made to believe that a flagellant receives God’s forgiveness afterwards. I also saw uncles, cousins and even an older brother do it yearly, I have witnessed them have their backs bladed or big heavy logs turned into crosses strapped to their shoulders as they paraded around the barrio as the whole village-folk watched.

Above photo shows a flagellant (kneeling) and his Hudyo. Photo below shows a flagellant whip himself at the back. His back was bladed (usually 100 small cuts) to make the blood flow and as, as they believe, penance for their sins.

In nearby Barrio Cutud, it is more interesting to note that these flagellants really have themselves nailed on the cross. I believe it was once done in Barrio Panipuan, when I was in my elementary years, but was not carried on afterwards.

Anyway, speaking from experience and as someone who has seen a lot of this yearly tradition, I have always felt uneasy about these flagellants drinking themselves to drunken stupor afterwards. It has also become part of this tradition for these young men to join their friends for many rounds of drinks after they have cleaned themselves off of the blood and dirt.

This year, I even overheard my cousin Carlo tell my Dad how stupid these flagellants looked while walking the streets barefoot under the scorching heat of the summer sun, he said that he saw some of them stop for drinks and my cousin was so surprised to see them drink from beer bottles- Red Horse bottles, if that makes any difference. Isn’t that an insult to the god that they worship and ask penance from? To pray to this god while the brain is clouded with the spirit of alcohol, I wonder what kind of prayer they utter. And I wonder what kind of god listens to them.

It is just funny how our Catholic brothers and sisters take pride in this tradition that Barrio Cutud’s more “realistic” reenactment has even gained international audiences with loads of tourist (thousands, I heard) flocking the place every year. What is there to take pride in? The flagellant’s unbelievable tolerance from pain? The blood oozing from everyone’s back as they parade around town? The traditions that we observe yet do not even practice at all?

From generations to generations, there are probably hundreds of traditions and customs passed down to us by our forefathers which we blindly continue to observe. It is just sad to note that so many of these traditions and customs were also passed down to them by their conquerors and they were just made to follow strictly, which they did so ONLY for fear of being outcasted or punished.

Today, we are no longer under anyone’s rule, we are no longer colonialized by our Spanish conquerors, we can now ask questions, we now have the power to decide for ourselves and to do what is right and what is wrong. Isn’t it high time that we, as we like to call ourselves “faithfuls”, start discerning truth from false beliefs? Isn’t it high time for us to really think and rethink the kind of faith that we practice and the kind of faith that the only true and living God would want us to practice?

Well, just a thought to ponder, I suppose….