Photo taken in 2015 atop the Calvary Hill in Bani town in Pangasinan. PHOTO BY WILLIE LOMIBAO
DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines —There will be no Masses and staging of the Stations of the Cross at the Surip pilgrimage site in Bani town, Pangasinan province, this Holy Week, a first in 45 years, as church and local government officials join efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The archdiocesan penitential pilgrimage held every Holy Tuesday had been canceled since mass gatherings were prohibited during the Luzon-wide lockdown, now extended to April 30.
Traditionally, the pilgrimage starts with a Mass before Catholic devotees trek to the Redeemer’s Cross on top of a hill, Bani’s version of Calvary Hill.
No gathering
“In the past, not even strong typhoons could stop the [staging of the] Stations of the Cross during the Lenten [season]. It is only during this time when COVID-19 is wreaking havoc that the annual activity [has been] canceled,” former Bani Mayor Marcelo Navarro Jr. said.
The Navarro family owns the forested property where the pilgrimage site is located although the area is open to public.
Opened in 1975, the site draws thousands of devotees from different provinces every Holy Week. Its giant Redeemer’s Cross is situated on a plateau overlooking the West Philippine Sea.
In Southern Luzon, Mounts Banahaw and San Cristobal, which are popular Holy Week destinations in the provinces of Quezon and Laguna, remained closed as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus.
Salud Pangan, park superintendent for Banahaw and San Cristobal, said Mt. Banahaw and its base had been sealed off to protect not only pilgrims but also mountain villagers from possible infection.
During the past years, the Protected Area Management Board allowed campers and pilgrims to stay in spots outside restricted sections of Banahaw that had been closed to the public since 2004 for rehabilitation.
—REPORTS FROM YOLANDA SOTELO AND DELFIN MALLARI JR.