FEATURE STORY: Christ’s Passion in Tuburan

CEBU, Philippines - For the 19th time, Gilbert Bargayo has volunteered to be nailed on the cross, this time in Tuburan town this Good Friday.

“Personal ni nako nga sakripisyo, pagsunod sa pag-antos sa Ginoo. Maayo unta pinaagi ani mapadayag pud nako ang Iyang mensahe sa katawhan,” said the 53-year-old Bargayo.

Bargayo said he is aware of the many criticisms of what he does but he just wants to continue what he's been doing for the last 19 years, as Jesus had purportedly told him to in his dreams. And for the last 19 years, countless scars from lashings have already dominated his body, at the back and on his left chest where he allowed to be cut with a spear several times during the reenactments. Amazingly however, no permanent damage has been caused in his both hands and feet after being repeatedly holed with four-inch nails.

Bargayo said after the crucifixion, he only takes antibiotics and, three days after, his wounds would already heal. Even his crucifixion last year in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, when a stainless-steel nail cracked one of the bones in his right hand, the wound still healed fast albeit causing him so much pain that he almost passed out. Bargayo believed God absorbs most of his sufferings.  “Iya man ning pagbuot, mao siguro mura’g suyupon niya ang sakit,” he said. In exchange, Bargayo said he only asks from his hosts to help him build his dream chapel in his place in Cogon, Poblacion I, Carcar City.

Tomorrow, just like what Christ did in Calvary Hills, Bargayo will carry a heavy wooden cross but on the streets of Tuburan town, where 12,000 are expected to join the foot procession and witness the live reenactment. Tuburan Councilor Danny Jurlano said the past years they used an image of Jesus on the Cross for the reenactment of the Passion of Christ. The image had movable body parts and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the image's head would bow down signaling Christ's death. But years of using it had worn out the image. “This time we are bringing in a real person to act out as Jesus. Mas realistic ni kay naa gyuy dugo,” Jurlano said. He added that security personnel will be in place in the town's boulevard, where the crucifixion will be held, to ensure the safety of the spectators.

This is the first time Tuburan is hosting a real crucifixion, which, Mayor Democrito “Aljun” Diamante said, is aimed at driving the bad spirits away from his town.

“It is not to dramatize Christ's sufferings, but to relive it so the people of Tuburan will hopefully remember why He did it. And from there, hopefully, just hopefully something good will happen,” said Diamante in an interview.

Diamante said the Tuburanons are religious by nature, in fact the relatives who are already based in other areas of the country would return to Tuburan on special occasions like the Holy Week just to attend the many religious events, which start with the procession of the saints on Tuesday afternoon until the activities for Easter Sunday. This year, however, is made special with the crucifixion of Bargayo, he said.

The mayor admitted drugs, rebels, dirty politics and poverty are still his major headaches. By reigniting religiousness among his people to a different level, Diamante, a religious man himself, hopes to curb these problems “slowly but surely.”

Tuburan is run with an P80 million income, internal revenue allotment included, per year. It is a pittance for an area with more than 60,000 people from its 54 villages, the mayor said. Majority of the town people still rely in farming and fishing as their main sources of income. These are not bad but Diamante said for these families to eat three times a day and send their children to school, they need stable jobs. But drugs and dirty politics are not good come-ons to investors, he said. The mayor has invited politicians of all parties and those who are still involved with the illegal drug trade to watch the reenactment of Christ's sufferings “basin nalang mabag-o tang tanan.”

In the past, Tuburan was dubbed as “shaburan”-an abridge of shabu (methamphetamine) and the town's name," as the said illegal drug here was sold like hot cakes. Diamante shared it was hard for them to find the culprits as they don't actually meet with their buyers, they just send text messages and once the deal has been sealed off, they drop the merchandise and the money at an agreed time and place. “It's just a text-and-drop operation. You don't really see an actually transaction happening. And in the past, nobody cared about such situation, so it prospered,” he said. But with the authorities' making the problem their top priority, Diamante, a first-term mayor, said they were able to cripple about 50 percent of this illegal operation. The rest, he said, will need “more prayers” to finish the job. “It's maybe because it's been here for so many years. Naa pa man gani mga 'tig-a' (tiguwang adik), makaluluoy lang kay guba na gyud kayo ilang kinabuhi,” he added.

The town was once rebel-infested, which drove its farmers to the mainland to drive trisikads, a more low-income option. Diamante said once the livelihood projects for the mountain barangays are in place, he will send back these people to their farms.

“We've had so many problems here, and as their mayor, I want to help them solve these. You could say it's hard, but I was once one of them, walked six kilometers as a boy to reach my school. With prayers and of course hard work, look where I am now. If we need to pray harder for the best, this is the best time to do it,” Diamante said. -/QSB (FREEMAN)