CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Thirty-one Catholic penitents and faith healers – 28 in Pampanga and three in Bulacan – were nailed to their individual crosses on Good Friday, following traditional crucifixions and reenactment of the passion of Jesus Christ that have become both a tourist attraction and a cause for concern for the Church, which opposes the practice.

The 28 crucifixions were held in various barangays in San Fernando, the most popular being in Barangay San Pedro Cutud, where these nailing rites were witnessed by nearly 30,000 residents, local and foreign tourists.

The crucifixions in Bulacan were conducted in barangay Kapitangan, Paombong town, following a procession of the faithful and scores of flagellants who did their traditional blood-letting to the delight of children and other onlookers.

Ching Pangilinan, San Fernando Tourism Officer, told the Manila Bulletin that the crucifixions at the “Grotto of Cutud” started at exactly 3 pm and lasted for half an hour.

Pangilinan said Ruben Enaje, 49, played the role of Jesus Christ in the customary Good Friday rites. This year is the 24th time that Enaje, a signboard painter, was nailed to the cross.

The tourism officer said of the 28 nailed to the cross in San Fernando City, 11 were crucified in barangay Cutud, then in San Juan including 34-year-old Mary Jane Mamangun, four in Calulut, and one in Sta. Lucia.

Mamangun was nailed to the cross under the blazing heat in barangay San Juan, her 14th consecutive annual crucifixion.

Mamangun told newsmen that she believes going through the ordeal had helped her grandmother recover from two strokes and her sister, to beat cancer.

"My grandmother is 88 now and she's still healthy," Mamangun said before being nailed to the cross.

Mamangun insisted before and after her crucifixion that she did not feel pain when the five-centimeter nails were hammered through her hands and feet.

Meanwhile, Police Supt. Marcelo Dayag, in a report to Chief Supt. Arturo G. Cacdac Jr., Central Luzon police director, said that no untoward incidents happened during the observance of Good Friday here.

In Paombong, Bulacan, the Good Friday observance was stained with blood again as three faith healers among hundreds of penitents were nailed to wooden crosses in their re-enactment of the sufferings of Jesus Christ in Barangay  Kapitangan.

As early as 8 am, a big crowd of local officials, media persons, devotees and foreign tourists swelled along the farm roads going to the man-made Golgotha beside the Kapitangan chapel where the faith healers were to be crucified.

Before the crucifixion, scores of bareback flagellants whipped their bodies to the delight of the crowd.

Flagellants paraded with blood oozing from their backs as if they are not hurt. And when asked by this reporter, they confirmed that they felt no pain during the ceremonial parade.

The participants, including the faith healers, were dragged, punched, and whipped by actors dressed as Roman centurions in very colorful costumes.

First to be nailed at around 10 am was Roger dela Cruz, followed after 30 minutes, by a woman only identified as Lenlen, both of this town.

The last to be crucified at 11:30 am was Buboy Dionisio. It was his 16th year of sacrifice.

Dionisio urged the crowd to send his message to all Filipinos: "Ito na ang huling kabanata ng aking pagpapapako sa krus, kaya hinihiling ko sa inyong lahat na magkaisa at magmahalan tayo upang ganap na makamtan ang tunay na kapayapaan. Kalimutan na natin ang paghahangad ng sobra sa ibinigay sa atin ng Diyos."

The spectators who were familiar with yearly Kapitangan crucifixions waited for Michael and and Jon-Jon Tanael, who are regular penitents, but were disappointed when only Michael appeared and said Jon-Jon’s cross could not be used because it broke when he fell while carrying it.

They then watched the ongoing healing sessions by faith healers at the back of the chapel.

Bulacan police director Senior Supt. Fernando S. Villanueva made good his promise to ensure that there is peace and order in the observance of Good Friday in the province.

Villanueva ordered Supt. Manuel M. Lukban Jr., PPSMC commander and all chiefs of police in the province to oversee the deployment of policemen in crowded areas and churches particularly in Barangay Kapitangan.

Policemen were deployed along major roads, malls, supermarkets, resorts and places of worship.