Manila - Thousands of devotees and tourists Friday flocked to a northern Philippine city where dozens of penitents were expected to be nailed to wooden crosses in an annual re-enactment of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The tourists mingled with devotees in two villages in San Fernando City in Pampanga province, 75 kilometres north of Manila, to witness the highlight of Easter celebrations in the predominantly Catholic country.
In San Pedro Cutud village, the main site of the annual event, 19 people have signed up for the crucifixion, according to local officials. Another 10 are expected to be crucified in nearby Santa Lucia village.
Fernando Mamago, a 37-year-old father of nine, is one of those to be nailed to the cross in Santa Lucia. He has been joining the ritual for the past 13 years.
"I started when one of the children almost died from an ailment," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur,
