Every year on Good Friday or the Friday before Easter a dozen or so penitents – mostly men but with the occasional woman – are taken to a rice field in the barrio of San Pedro Cutud, (3km from San Fernando City in Pampanga province) and nailed to a cross using two-inch (5 cm) stainless steel nails that have been soaked in alcohol to disinfect them.
The penitents are taken down when they feel cleansed of their sin. Other penitents flagellate themselves using bamboo sticks tied to a rope. The event has attracted both the penitent and the curious to the town of Cutud, making this event a heady mix of religion, a feast and a hyper media event.
Long live Philippine fiesta traditions!
