Aspiring ‘Judas’ is Mandaluyong’s veteran ‘Jesus’

“THE LAST TEMPTATION OF DAN” Sarabia channels the Messiah in a scene with the Devil during Holy Tuesday’s performance in Barangka, Mandaluyong City. JOAN BONDOC

MANDALUYONG CITY, Philippines–Wisecracks and cuss words come easy to Dan Albert Sarabia. Just ask the employees at his family-owned restaurant.

But every night on Holy Week, for more than half his life, the 22-year-old Mandaluyong City resident transforms into what he considered his exact opposite, starting with the fake beard, the long hair, the robe and that look of “holiness” required by the challenging role

Those are the nights when he has to drop “p—mo” from his vocabulary, said a smiling Sarabia, his “naughty self” still peering through in an interview when the Inquirer met him backstage on Holy Tuesday.

The lead actor of the Samahang Kabataan ng San Roque-Senakulista ng Barangay Barangka has been starring as the Messiah—first as the child Jesus and now as the adult Christ—in the traditional passion play staged in the city every Lent.

Founded in 1965, the amateur troupe is now composed mostly of “third-generation” players, according to a statement from the city government, which promotes the performances as a local tourist draw. As senakulistas, they perform a panata or religious vow, seeking no fees but grace and atonement.

Tough role

“It’s a tough role because Dan is really a different person (offstage),” Sarabia said. Unlike the traditional portrayal of Kristo as a “suffering, soft-spoken” character, “I’m talkative, loud and likes to break the rules. Pasaway.”

At the family-owned Burp Pasta, for example, he’s both the supervisor and resident joker, blurting out expletives that either leave the workers in stitches or keep them on their toes. “We’re only human, after all,” he explained.

In fact, when he was still about 9 years old, he had “another role” in mind when he was convinced by his sister Arabel to join her in the theater group. Thinking it was a perfect fit for his real-life personality, he aimed for the role of the little Judas Iscariot.

“I was already that pasaway back then. Also, when you’re a kid, you actually become more popular (in the neighborhood) if you play Judas,” he recalled.

And so, to his disappointment, he ended up being cast instead as the Santo Niño on his senakulo debut. “Of course, you just accept it. I just really thought they would give me ‘little Judas’ that year.”

Intense adjustment

As he aged and moved on to play the grownup Jesus, the “adjustments” became more and more intense with every performance. “When you portray someone like Him, you have to internalize the role and put your heart into it long before you step out there.”

To psyche himself up, he came up with a rather crude chant to himself: “I should be like this…I should be like that.”

Once in character, he would feel as if the audience didn’t exist and that he was in Christ’s world when he walked the Earth. Tears would roll down his cheeks naturally, “once you think about how much He had suffered.”

Every finished show brings in a rush of “personal fulfillment,” he said. “I am happy when I perform in the senakulo. It’s as if my heart grows lighter, despite my many problems and imperfections.”

“This is the only sacrifice we can do for God,” he added, saying the performances were his and his sister’s way of repaying the blessings received by the family. “We didn’t have a lot, but look where we are now. As long as I can, I will keep doing this.”