Lucban shrine off limits to ‘epals’

THE ADMINISTRATOR of the Lucban shrine, Fr. Joey Faller, requests politicians not to conduct election campaign activities inside the shrine complex and during its activities on Holy Week. DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.

No politicking in a shrine of worship, please, a priest asks politicians.

Expecting a multitude of devotees to flock to the now famous Kamay ni Hesus (Hand of Jesus) shrine in Lucban town this Holy Week, renowned healer Fr. Joey Faller warned politicians that no campaigning would be allowed inside the place of worship.

“The shrine is a sacred place for worship and spiritual cleansing and not a place for political campaign and gimmicks,” said Faller in a phone interview.

The priest, shrine founder and administrator, said he has been receiving requests from senatorial candidates and party-list groups if they could pay him a visit during Holy Week.

He said all politicians and devotees are welcome at the shrine complex located on a hilly part of Barangay (village) Tinamnan, a few kilometers away from the Lucban town center.

Faller, who is believed to have a gift of healing from God, said he would pray for all candidates who would come at the shrine regardless of their political affiliations.

The priest said any candidate and his staff may meditate, pray and climb the 300-step “Stairway to Heaven” to reach the 50-foot statue of the resurrected Christ on top of the hill, but he would not endorse them.

Once inside the shrine, they should not resort to any campaign activities like wearing campaign shirts, giving pamphlets, shaking hands with devotees or having  “photo ops” (opportunities) with voters, he reminded the candidates.

Faller said devotees would also detest any election campaign activity inside the shrine.

On Good Friday, the priest said he would initiate “Lakbay Kamay ni Hesus 2013,” a midnight procession from  Lucena City, Pagbilao, Quezon and neighboring towns in Laguna to the Lucban shrine, a 24-kilometer penitential walk, that would serve as a communal expression of faith.

He discouraged participants from wearing campaign clothes of politicians as the walk is not a political activity.

He said the procession would be highlighted by the praying of the rosary and doing the Stations of the Cross along the route.

He said all processions would converge at the gate of the Kamay ni Hesus shrine. Participants would get a certificate of completion of the penitential walk.

The roads leading to the shrine is now heavily littered with campaign billboards and tarpaulins by candidates, in apparent anticipation of the throng of devotees who would visit the place.

“But I cannot do anything about those campaign posters outside the shrine even if it’s illegal. It will be up to the people to decide whom to vote for,” he said.

Faller said this year’s visitors—devotees, picnickers, curiosity seekers, kibitzers and balikbayan (returning Filipinos from abroad) have been arriving in droves on weekends since Ash Wednesday.

The five-hectare religious complex, known for its contemplative yet jovial atmosphere, is one of the popular Holy Week destinations in the country.

Holy Week is also a red-calendar week for local business due to the throng of local and international tourists that invade the town at the foot of Mt. Banahaw.

Police and the shrine’s own security guards estimated that 1.5 million shrine guests came during Holy Week last year.

Retreat centers

The staff of Noah’s Ark and Kamay ni Hesus retreat centers have been busy booking guests for Holy Week. Noah’s Ark, a house of prayer, holds a two-story building with air-conditioned single, double and dormitory-type rooms as well as a refectory and a seminar room.

Pilgrims are not allowed in the Ark as it is only for guests holding retreats or seminars.

Most of the complex visitors spend the night sleeping in grassy areas, in small huts and even inside the church.

The complex has small restaurants that offer local food such as the famous longganisang Lucban, pansit hab-hab and budin (cassava cake).

There are also souvenir shops, though pilgrims should not ask for plastic bags to carry their purchases because the municipal council has banned the use of plastic bags in the town two years ago.