Monday, March 24, 2008
The 15th crucifixion
By Anol MongayaPanahom

“NAAYO na man,” said Gilbert Bargayo with a wide grin when I approached him upon arriving at the Don Bosco Retreat House in Barangay Mantalongon, Dalaguete, Cebu last Thursday. A follower was busily painting brown dye on Bargayo’s body at the retreat house basement in a futile attempt to hide the ugly chicken pox marks while over a dozen youths were practicing the reenactment of the first station of the Via Crucis upstairs. And I thought nothing would stop the 15th crucifixion the next day despite the chicken pox that struck him two weeks before. Not even the threat posed by Barangay Captain Rowell Reynes, who reportedly vowed to block the reenactment with a barricade at the mercado. The barangay captain was telling reporters who approached him that the organizers did not ask his permission, and that Mantalongon does not need promotional activities. Reynes, however, cannot show a barangay resolution or ordinance mandating the need for a barangay permit or clearance for the holding of a Via Crucis along Mantalongon streets nor was he the owner of the privately owned Cristo Rey Mountain Park. Local folk at the mercado told me Barangay Captain Reynes opposed the whole Pasyon sa Mantalongon because of local and family politics. Perhaps, the barangay captain, instead of showing pure temper and dim-witted arguments, should reflect on the idea behind Gov. Gwen Garcia’s Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo and the Department of Tourism’s community-based tourism. After all, the barangay, which is located 15 kilometers towards the mountains from the Dalaguete municipal hall, boasts of several attractions aside from the mountain park and the cheap vegetables and meat (a companion could not help shelling out a few hundreds when he learned a kilo of pork was only P100). The Via Crucis last Friday, for example, started at the Villa Caridad—the remains of an old monastery beside a hill marked by a huge cross and with a breathtaking view of Osmeña Peak. We then passed by the grotto of the Virgin Mary that was constructed in between a crack of a cliff. At the top of the Cristo Rey Mountain Park where Bargayo had himself nailed, one can relax while shaded by huge pines although the beauty of the place had to take a backseat as an estimated 15,000 people pushed and shoved to take a better view of the gory ritual. I am sure dynamic leaders could think of ways of making more attractions out of Mantalongon’s hard rock cliffs, cool mountain air, and abandoned coal mines. And after a day or two exploring the mountain’s secrets, one can take a dip at the town’s attractive beaches. But back to the Bargayo crucifixion, organizers could not help recall what he uttered while on the cross. Shortly after being nailed on both hands and burly men began to push the cross upright, Bargayo suddenly blurted, “Ayaw i-90, Ayaw i-90.” He meant the cross should not stand 90 degrees since he would literally hang, a very painful position compared to a cross that is slightly leaning backwards. After 30 minutes on the cross, a worried Bargayo again yelled, “Asa ang hagdanan. Ang hagdanan.” Apparently thinking that he had been hanging too long already, he looked worried that nobody had thought of bringing out the ladder so he could be brought down. Actually, no ladder was prepared and his followers stood on each other to be able to reach and remove the nails. “It’s not anymore Siete Palabras,” said Ka Bino of radio dyAB. “Bargayo just made it Siyam Palabras.” *** I hope sympathizers of Jun Lozada learned not to even jokingly criticize Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal in public. To recall, Lozada quipped “Archdiocese ng Malacañang” in a dig at the cardinal’s supposed order against holding a mass with the Senate’s star witness during his Cebu visit last Monday. Between the supposed “honest” Lozada and Cardinal Vidal, majority of Cebuanos prefer their beloved cardinal. I think the Lozada visit in Cebu that fell on Semana Santa was also ill timed. It failed to spark indignation and protests in largely pro-GMA Cebu. Sen. Mar Roxas had more success in winning pogi points in his visit a week earlier.