Politics shunned in 'Maleldo'

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – No campaigning politicians, no penitential foreigners, please.

Organizers of “Maleldo” here appealed to candidates not to spoil the solemnity of the traditional true-to-life crucifixions slated on Good Friday in Barangay San Pedro Cutud by taking advantage of the event to campaign.

“Maleldo,” a contracted Kapampangan word meaning “holy day,” has been used here to refer to the crucifixions that have become the focus of the international media every Good Friday.

Twenty-five penitents are expected to be nailed on wooden crosses in Barangay San Pedro Cutud.

This year, though, there will be new developments on Good Friday in this town: more barangays will stage their own crucifixions and the makeshift Golgotha in San Pedro Cutud has been transferred to accommodate more viewers.

“We don’t want a repetition of Good Friday during the 2007 elections when political streamers and posters served as irreverent backdrop to the penitents nailed on crosses,” city tourism officer Ching Pangilinan told The STAR.

Foreigners, too, are barred from flagellation and the actual crucifixion. “We have had some cases of foreigners joining flagellants but later exhibiting acts manifesting their lack of deeper understanding of the tradition,” Pangilinan said.

But, of course, both foreign and domestic tourists are invited to witness anew the event in San Pedro Cutud.

Superintendent Marcelo Dayag, San Fernando police chief, said his men would be on “high alert” on Good Friday but appealed to the public to be “extra careful” against criminal elements, particularly pickpockets.

Last year, crucifixions of penitents were held not only in San Pedro Cutud, but also in Barangays Sta. Lucia and San Juan, although they were scheduled in a way that enabled tourists to witness one after the other. San Pedro Cutud started the Lenten tradition.

“This Good Friday, there will be five crucifixion sites, as Barangays Calulut and Del Pilar also have penitents wanting to be nailed on crosses,” Pangilinan said.