BEACHES AND CHURCHES: MARINDUQUE: THE LENTEN CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES

I spent the Triduum of the Holy Week of 2019 discovering the island-province of Marinduque, dubbed as the Lenten Capital of the Philippines because of its famous Moriones staged during the Holy Week.

With me were two theologians from UST. We left early morning of Holy Wednesday from Manila so that we could arrive early at the Dalahican Ferry Terminal in Lucena. We arrived at the Lucena port by 8:30 a.m. only to find long lines of cars waiting to board the ferry. We were 104th on the list when we arrived. It took six hours of waiting before we were able to board the ferry. The ferry boat left at 2:45pm and arrived at the Balanacan port at past 5. We only had bread for lunch as that was the only food that could be bought at the port in Dalahican. There was a dimsum store but their stock was consumed right away. Had planned that if we arrive by noontime in Marinduque we will take the clockwise roundabout trip so that we could already tour around the six towns of the island. But since it was already late, and we were being held by the Holy Wednesday processions starting at Balanacan just after we got out of the port at Mogpog so we decided just to heed right away to Boac. We arrived Boac just after the town procession ended and was able to park in-front of the Cathedral which sets on a hill. We finally had our proper meal during dinner at the bishop’s house where we were billeted.

On Holy Thursday, I was able to concelebrate during the chrism mass at the Cathedral at nine in the morning. Right after the mass we started our tour around the island. Our first stop was the parish church of Mogpog, six kilometers away from Boac. It was good that they took out the covering cloth of the altar retablo when we got there so we were able to take a picture of the altar.

Our next stop was Santa Cruz church, 24 kilometers away over a zigzag road across a mountain range. The church was in the middle of the block surrounded by mostly commercial buildings. We just parked our car along the street as we were not able to find the main entrance which was on the other side of the block. The whole altar retablo was covered with violet cloth so we could not see its beauty. The dome had paintings depicting scenes of the crucifixion of our Lord. There was also an existing pulpit inside the church.

There was a canopy fronting the church which was covered in bricks. A five-layer octagonal belfry was connected at the right facing the church.

Our next stop was the White Beach in Poctoy, Torrijos. There were plenty of people and all the tents and kiosks were all occupied. There was an environmental fee of fifty pesos each. Entrance to the beach was on both ends of the beach which was about a half kilometer stretch. We just took a place at the back of the lifeguard stand which was shaded by two coconut trees. The beach was not clear but a little pearly white. Went snorkeling. There were plenty of sea urchins and suaki and not much of corals. We were able to rinse ourselves before leaving as there were showers at designated places.

Next stop was the church of Torrijos which was just two kilometers away from the beach. Then off we visited the Buenavista church. We had to pass again another zigzag road before reaching Buenavista. We arrived in Gasan just in time for the 5pm Holy Thursday liturgy of the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper. The church of Gasan was also on a hill. It was newly built with the convento still under construction. The inside of the church had some unique features, the ceiling had a fan-like shaped. The big main door had carvings in it. There were paintings on the ceiling by the sanctuary depicting St Joseph as patron of the sick, dying, the family, among others. We were back to Boac by ten in the evening.

April 19 Good Friday

Joined morning prayer at the cathedral presided by Bp. Junie Maralit. Then we watched Moriones reenactment by ten in the morning around the town.

There was a Siete Palabras inside the cathedral preached by the youth. The Lords commemoration of the passion started just before three in the afternoon. Attendance at the cathedral was just sitting capacity but becoming fuller towards the end of the ceremony. The procession started right away after the liturgy. It was indeed a long procession attended by thousands going up and down the hilly town of Boac. Since there was a lull in the procession we decided to go to the front of the procession since we were in the middle by going to another street to see the starting point of the procession. It was by 7:30 that the procession ended. There was no band playing but only the people praying solemnly the rosary.

April 30, Black Saturday

Attended the six am morning prayer at the Cathedral presided by the bishop. Then after breakfast we went for our island hopping. We decided to go to the Tres Reyes island.

Take off point for the boats was in Brgy. Pinggan, a few kilometers after the town of Gasan. There was already a point person who was in-charge of assigning the boats that we will take. 800 was the asking price for a trip to Gaspar island, the nearest island where there was a good beach for swimming. Decided to visit all the three islands since we were already there. 1,500 was the boat rent for the three islands. There was only a small rocky cove where the boat could dock at the Balthasar island, the farthest island. Spent almost an hour swimming around its clear waters. Boats could not dock at Melchor island as the whole island was just a rocky hill with no beach, but I decided that we just dock near the island so I could at least do some snorkeling. Gaspar island was full of beach goers when we arrived and there was no longer any vacant kiosk or tent. Had planned to eat our packed lunch from the boat but since it was rocking because of the waves we were content to eat our lunch under a coconut tree.

Noticing that there was enough time I decided that we would go on another island hopping trip in Maniwaya island at the other side of Marinduque. From Pinggan we drove counterclockwise this time passing by Buenavista and Torrijos in going to the Buyabod port, the jump off point for the island hopping trip. We passed by first at the Sulfur Hotspring in Buenavista just for a picture taking. It was past three in the afternoon when we arrived at the Buyabod port. There was already an organized system for the boat rentals. Two thousand was the rent for Maniwaya island and 2,500 if including the Palad sandbar. The Ungab rock formaion, we were told could not be reached because of big waves that day. Took the trip which included the Palad sandbar. It was already 3:30 when we started the trip. There were about fifty other boats when we reached Palad sandbar. The waters were clear and shallow, which was indeed good for swimming. Stayed there for almost an hour. We witnessed the sunset on our way to Maniwaya island. The beach in Maniwaya was full of seagrass especially since it was already low tide. It was good indeed that we took some time to swim at the Palad sandbar. It was already getting dark when we left Maniwaya back to Buyabod port. Just as we were reaching the port we witnessed the beautiful moonrise. It was already past seven. We were back in Boac by eight in the evening where we had our supper and just in time to prepare for the Easter vigil at 9:30.

The Easter vigil was over by 11:30 since only the short form was used and there was no baptism.

April 21, Easter Sunday

We left the Cathedral at eight in the morning just after breakfast. We thought there would be a long line at the port just like when we came. We were pleasantly surprised to see that there were only a few cars ahead of us. The boat left by 10:15.

Since we prepared a packed lunch, we passed by a park in Lucena to eat our food. It took us a long time to reach Manila as there was already a traffic build up along the way. First the Waze suggested that we take the Ibaan road only to tell us later that we turn back to Sariaya Road where we found a long traffic because of an accident. Then Waze suggested we take the Lipa road where we found a long traffic jam as we had to cross the city proper until we found our way to the Star toll highway. It was already past six when we arrived in Manila. We drove 640 kilometers in all during our trip.