Gilbert Bargayo made his 20th crucifixion on Good Friday in Tuburan town west of Cebu.(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
In the middle of Tuburan’s town square, Gilbert Bargayo and two other men reenacted the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on a scorching afternoon of Good Friday.
Bargayo, dressed in a loin cloth, groaned as his assistant, dressed in a monk’s brown robes, hammered two nails in his feet, then one each in his outstretched hands.
The nails were sterilized in a glass of alcohol before they were pounded with a mallet.
The two “thieves” who flanked the volunteer Jesus Christ were strung up on wooden crosses with their arms tied with rope.
One of them, overcome by the heat, passed out and had to be replaced so the play could continue.
A crowd of over 1,000 watched the climax of a Holy Week passion play that started at 10 a.m. with Bargayo carrying a wooden cross through the town’s streets. He would stop awhile before tarp banners marking the traditional “stations of the cross”, as townsfolk gathered to pray.
At each station, a commentator would read aloud a brief narrative and lead solemn prayers.
Gilbert Bargayo (center) (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Among the crowd were out-of-town spectators, including several foreign visitors and a TV camera crew. Even local residents filled the area, snapping away for souvenir photos.
At 11 a.m. Bargayo took a rest break, as a set of speakers took turns giving their reflections on the Seven Last Words.
He resumed at 2 p.m., this time submitting to a crucifixion by actors playing Roman soldiers.
The three wooden crosses were set on a stage in the poblacion’s center square, a prodution that combines community theater with religious customs and pious Catholic devotion.
Bargayo, who has been submitting himself to live cruficixion in different venues in Cebu every Good Friday since the 1990s, earlier said this was his way of striving to lead a new life after he swore off drugs and alcohol in his 20s.
Bargayo silently hung suspended for about 30 minutes. Following the Bible’s sequence of the execution, a “soldier” pierced a spear at his side. The crowd murmured when the stabbing was repeated several times before drawing blood.
Tuburan Mayor Democrito Diamante was in the crowd watching. The mayor had invited Bargayo to mount his annual crucifixion, his second time to do so in this northwest town.
Friday was the 20th time for Bargayo to perform this sacrifice, an extreme form of penance which the Catholic Church discourages.
He did not scream in pain. There was minimal blood until he was taken down from the cross and the nails were extracted. That was when the blood gushed.
Cotton swatches that were used to stem the blood were later distributed to pious spectators. Then Bargayo boarded a van that headed for a rest house by the sea, where by custom, he would immerse himself in seawater where the salt would help heal his wounds quickly.
(Report by Cebu Daily News Photo Editor Tonee Despojo)