Lenten practices in Bayambang appear to be no different from those in the rest of Catholic Philippines, except perhaps for a few touches. There is nothing gradiose like Marinduque's moriones, Guimaras' "Ang Pagtaltal" presentation (as inspired by the Oberammergau Passion Play in Germany), and many towns' staging of the cenaculo, or nothing ghastly like Bataan and Pampanga's bloody flagellants and their crowd-drawing reenactments of crucifixion, though these penitents from afar regularly pass by the town in a drove of long hair and dirtied white robes.
The observance of Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, called Palaspas (Domingo de Rlaamos), is typical. For Palm Sunday, roadside vendors make brisk sales of various styles of palaspas made of artfully woven coconut fronds and other materials. After the church blessing, the palaspas is not thrown away but instead displayed in front of doors or windows, supposedly to ward off evil and as protection from lightning. After one year, the same leaves, now brown, dried and shriveled, are the ones burned in church to make ashes for the next Ash Wednesday.
On Fridays of the Lenten or Semana Santa period, devotees refrain from eating meat, in keeping with the themes of fasting and abstinence in atonement for one's sins and out of respect for the passion (or profound suffering) of Jesus the Christ (the price God had to pay for redeeming hopeless mankind from sin). Plain ingisan balatong or monggo guisado is the preferred dish for no-meat Fridays.
Maundy Thursday (Jueves/Huebes Santo) is when devotees attend Mass depicting the Last Supper, with the Washing of the Feet as highlight. Devotees also practice praying in front of the 14 Stations of the Cross, especially when one ate meat by mistake due to negligence. Visita Iglesia is also popular -- the visiting of seven nearby churches in succession to pray and reflect, in keeping with the solemn, serene, and austere atmosphere of the season.
Biyernes (or Biyarnis) Santo is an especially sober day for observant Catholics. What differs from the rest of the Catholic world is the extent and number of things that elders forbid the members of their family to do on this holiest of days. A few households practice the singing of the Pasyon, which was generally laughed at silently due to the atonal singing involved, but regarded nonetheless with respect as this is done by the family as a form of spiritual vow. But when it comes to the do's and don't's, all hell breaks loose, so to speak, that whosoever violates them receives a hostile word or two (e.g. "Hudyo ka amo?!" or "Are you a Jew?!") Youngsters who had no idea often mistake all these practices as Catholic, even though these are actually superstitious beliefs in the eyes of official Catholic teaching. (Actual church-approved restrictions are very few in comparison.)
On this special commemorative day, businesses are closed, there are no Masses, and the altar and all the rebultos are covered in purple to signify mourning. Everyone is forbidden to laugh, make loud noise, play games, play music, sweep the yard, do hard labor, travel far, even take a bath or trim one's nails -- on top of the restriction on eating meat and sumptuous dishes in general. The common fare for the day is bare and spare and may include boiled rice, vegetable, broth, dried fish, sardines, or other seafood, all cooked simply. The forbidding heat and humidity of the second week of April all the more intensifies these privations of the Cuaresma -- locally called Ambelat Agew, which literally means Heavy Days.
There is also the belief that if one hurt oneself and bled, the wound will heal longer than usual, or never will, thus the forbidding of doing even simple household chores.
One practice that is quaint to this town and the then coconut-rich province is probably the practice of panaglarak -- extracting oil from mature coconut for healing purposes by boiling coconut 'milk' until curds form and the oil is rendered at around 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon, the exact time Christ died. It is believed that oil produced on this day has special healing properties. The same is true with collecting medicinal plants on this day, which other families practiced.
The regard for the healing oil is such that someone who was known to be "aga makalarak" (can't be relied upon to produce oil) was forbidden to so much as take a peep at the cooking process lest not enough oil will be produced.
Way outside of church-sanctioned beliefs and practices are those that involve the procurement of anting-antings or amulets.
On this day, there is, of course, the usual libot or procession of the Santo Entierro around town in the afternoon, and before that, the Siete Palabras or the hours-long reflection on the Seven Last Words as part of the day's penitential rites.
The disproportional treatment of suffering by locals rivals the pageantry of beauty contests that it makes Easter or the Resurrection look like an afterthought -- not theologically sound maybe but definitely Filipino, in that it is consistent with the proliferation of Crucifixion statues and the relative paucity of the Resurrected Christ.
The household restrictions may be viewed as simply a holdover from indigenous practices that point to a deep fear of angry native deities, but using another lens, they may also be an indication of the extent of fervor of faith of the devotees, in deference to the depth and 'creative' variety of Christ's suffering -- actually the world's worst form of physical and psychological torture, from the (to list down the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary) agony in the garden to the scourging at the pillar, carrying of the cross, crowning with thorns, and crucifixion. The strictures, however excessive, serve a purpose of setting these days apart from the usual, thus setting a tone conducive for spiritual reflection in relation to the occasion.
On Black Saturday (Sabado de Gloria), the restrictions noticeably ease up a bit but it is more like an extension of Good Friday. By night, devotees keep vigil at the parish church until the ringing of bells after midnight and the Salubong or Abet-Abet at the break of dawn on Easter Sunday.
The local Pasko ng Pagkabuhay (Domingo de Pascua or Pasko'y Inkabilay nen Hesus) is no different as well, in that families go to Mass and prepare festive meat dishes at home. In the early morning, the kids are told to jump as high as they can, so they would grow tall. It is also believed that if one collected or planted seeds or seedlings on Easter, the plant would grow equally lush or robust. The observance, however, is markedly more sober compared with the ever-joyous observance of Christmas, when in fact Christmas will not mean much without Jesus' victory over death and sin in the Resurrection. After all, it is not how things started that matters but how they end up.
As in the rest of the Philippines, the latest evolution in local Easter Sunday celebrations involves the Easter egg hunt, a noticeable departure from the Spanish influences and indigenous carryovers. It is, of course, a major intrusion of American culture that is only reflective of the United States' present role as world superpower.
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