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Contrary to common belief of a “festive” Holy Week celebration, the town of Bantayan on Bantayan Island, northern Cebu, was a picture of solemnity and Catholic devotion on Good Friday as Bantayanons joined Christians around the world in remembering the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Around 30,000 devotees flocked to the town proper to join a grand procession famous for its life-sized olden statues on 16 beautifully adorned carrozas depicting painful scenes of Jesus’ final moments in Calvary.
Despite the thick crowds that gathered, there were no untoward incidents reported, said Supt. Mario Baquiran Jr., chief of the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC).
Around 300 law enforcers were deployed on the island for Holy Week, half of which were from PPSC, Police Regional Office, Cebu Provincial Police Office, Special Weapons and Tactics Team, and the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit – Active Auxiliaries (CAFGU- CAA).
The rest were members of the military and barangay tanods serving as force multipliers.
Bantayan Island is comprised of three towns : Bantayan, Santa Fe and Madridejos.
“It was generally peaceful and safe, and the crowd was manageable,” said Baquiran.
Fr. Joselito Danao, parish priest of Bantayan’s Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Church, though surprised by the number of security forces, welcomed their help in ensuring a peaceful Holy Week celebration.
“Nevertheless, I’m grateful that the government provided security augmentation,” said Fr. Danao.
Bantayan Mayor Ian Christopher Escario also offered a P5,000 reward for any law enforcer who could catch criminals disrupting the solemnity of the event.
Santo Entierro
During this year’s procession, police cordoned the float carrying the centuries’ old Santo Entierro (holy burial) as people were again expected clamber over the carroza to pluck out flowers which some believe to bring luck.
“The crowd can really get unruly once the Santo Entierro is near them. Last year, there was no cordon,” said Baquiran.
Devotees were only allowed to pluck the carroza’s flowers when the Santo Entierro arrived at the church from the procession.
Earlier, on Maundy Thursday, Bantayanons also joined a procession for another 18 floats bearing antique images of Christ’s passion.
This brings Bantayan’s total number of life-sized Holy Week carrozas to 34, the biggest and grandest in Cebu.