SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Bernardo wobbles through the concrete streets of San Pedro Cutud. He had just descended from the village’s famed hilltop, which he reached after walking for two hours from the starting point close to the Gapan-Olongapo highway junction. 

He is 40 years old, a construction worker. He has ampules of blood trickling down his chest, revealing the flesh of his back whipped raw. He is still chirpy despite the scorching heat and the thousand lashes he inflicted on himself.

He has been walking the bloody Good Friday road for the past 18 years. He says the pain is nothing to get worked up on, for his agony was worth a thousand fervent prayers. – Rappler.com