MACABEBE, Pampanga — “I am happy because the tradition lives in Macabebe.”
Thus said Mayor Annette Flores-Balgan when asked to comment about the religious procession and the so-called Bloodless Lenten tradition held on March 30. Both events are held simultaneously here on Good Friday.
“The event this year is successful again. There so many people and devotees,” said Balgan who watched the start of the twin activities
from the municipal hall.
“I want to thank my constituents, especially residents of San Isidro, for making the tradition very much alive,” she added.
More than 60 years ago, a group called Everybody’s Club started a bloodless Lenten tradition in Barangay San Isidro
Pampanga—notably at the cities of Angeles and San Fernando—is the country’s center of self-flagellations during Holy Week. At least
three villages in San Fernando and two in Angeles are known to hold crucifixion rites on Good Friday.
Everybody’s Club has been creating replicas of Jesus Christ’s stations of the cross since 1956. Every year, the club chooses what to
replicate among the 14 stations of Jesus. Then it will imitate the scenario of the station chosen and create the costumes for club
members representing Mama Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Roman soldiers, and the apostles, to name a few.
The 14 stations of the cross were all represented and each displayed at vacant lots and façade of houses along major roads in San Isidro
and villages near the municipal hall.
The tradition went on for more than 60 years but it was during the time of Mayor Balgan when the Maleldo activity “grew and improved,”
said Macabebe Tourism Officer Catherine Flores. Balgan first became mayor in 2010. –Photos by Leo Villacarlos
