Neighbors in Barangay San Pedro Cutud here, where thousands of foreign and domestic tourists flock to witness the reenactment of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) every Good Friday, swear the 41-year-old Ynaje doesn’t drink, gamble or womanize.
He has even kept his hair long and his mustache and beard trimmed to a certain a length in keeping with the traditional concept of how Christ looked.
The only hitch is that he hasn’t gone to confession since he was seven years old, the first and only time he did.
"I also haven’t gone to holy communion since then," Ynaje said in an interview here after he was finally chosen to portray the role of the main Kristo in tomorrow’s Via Crucis. "I confess to God directly."
Ynaje’s statement is likely to stir controversy following the Catholic bishops’ missive frowning on the fiesta atmosphere that pervades in San Pedro Cutud during the annual spectacle, when up to a dozen Kristos are nailed to the cross.
Church authorities have lashed at the largely Roman Catholic barangay folk’s disregard for fasting and abstinence on Good Friday, as residents prepare succulent meat dishes and, amid endless merriment, engage in drinking sprees.
"It used to be that the old folks served only meatless pancit for guests curious to witness the live crucifixions here," recalled barangay captain Zoilo Castro.
Castro said his constituents started serving meat dishes when he became barangay chief some 16 years ago. "We just could not have pancit as pulutan, especially meatless pancit," he said.
The actual fiesta of San Pedro Cutud is on June 29, the feast of St. Peter. But local folk have taken to celebrating on Good Friday instead.
"It has been like that for as long as I can remember," Castro said. The unofficial change, he noted, came almost naturally as a consequence of the inevitable visitors who flock to their village to see the Via Crucis.
Like the other penitents who volunteer to be crucified, Ynaje’s initial decision to have himself nailed to the cross was prompted by a significant event in his life.
"I was clambering up a bamboo scaffolding to paint a sign on the front of the third floor of a new building in Tarlac. But it was slippery and I fell from the level of the third floor. Miraculously, I was not hurt at all," he said.
Ynaje claimed that inexplicably, he would start to feel the pain of the nails in both hands as early as Maundy Thursday.
"It just happens. The pain is most intense during the first hammering of the nails and also when the nails are pulled out," Cutud’s main Kristo said.
But during the 10 minutes that he hangs on the cross, Ynaje says he prays all the familiar prayers he knows. "I pray the Our Father and I also add some personal prayers for peace in the world."
He said that his vow is to be crucified for 25 years, and in the last two years he intends to have also his feet nailed.
Castro said that no less than 11 Kristos are expected to be crucified in his barangay tomorrow. Aside from Ynaje, the others include oldtimers Roland Ocampo, Bob Velez, Arnold Maniza, Romelito Vergara, Romeo Sarmiento and Ramil Lazaro, all residents of Pampanga.
The only woman, Amparo Santos, also known as Mother Paring from Barangay Tiaong in Guiguinto, Bulacan, has also listed up for the third time. Two brothers from Tacloban City have also signed up for the bloody rites.
Castro said last year’s main Kristo, Chito Sangalang, who has completed his 15-year crucifixion vow, has again expressed interest to be nailed to the cross.
The Via Crucis starts at 11 a.m., skipping Christ’s agony and starting with the trial by Pontius Pilate played by resident Boy Padilla.
The rest of the characters include the Blessed Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Veronica, all portrayed by unmarried local women.
The climax of course is the nailing on the cross on a simulated Golgotha.
"My wife has always refused to see me crucified, but my 14-year-old son Mark assists me by carrying the five-inch nails alongside me as I carry my cross. He also keeps alcohol and bandages for my wounds after the crucifixion," Ynaje said.
The healing of wounds takes about a month, Ynaje said, but he usually reports for work on the Monday after Easter.
He said that he has managed to provide modestly for his wife and four children, earning an average P13,000 a month.
But he said his income falls as Holy Week approaches. "I take it as part of the trial I have to face. But after that, things go back to normal and I never fall short of providing for the basic needs of my family," he added.
Castro has high expectations for tomorrow’s Via Crucis, which he believes would be more colorful as provincial board member Robert David has footed the bill for costumes.