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Devotees in the fervently Catholic Philippines marked Good Friday by being nailed to crosses and whipping their backs bloody, in extreme acts of devotion that attracted thousands of spectators.

The annual ritual in scorching hot farmlands just outside of Manila is one of many colourful outpourings of faith in the Southeast Asian nation, where 80 per cent of its 100 million people are Catholics.

"I feel no pain because I know I am one with my God in suffering," 30-year-old construction worker Arjay Rivera told AFP before he slit his back with broken bottles and razors, later whipping himself with bamboo flails to keep the wounds open.

A man uses a stick to whip a penitent in front of a chapel during a Holy Week ritual in Angeles city. Reuters image

As the flagellants made an excruciatingly slow barefoot march to the hill in San Juan, a rural district of San Fernando north of Manila where the crucifixions were to take place, some of them stopped at times to lay face down on the hot pavement and let children flog them with twigs.

Five men had nails hammered through their palms and feet while four others, some with fake beards drawn on their faces to resemble Christ, were tied to the crosses.
They wailed in pain as attendants, costumed as Roman centurions, pounded the nails through their palms.

"My faith got me through my illness. I will continue doing this for as long as I live," one of the men, Wilfredo Salvador told AFP after he was taken down from a cross, his hands and feet wrapped in bandages.

"It was painful up there, but I felt light. I can’t explain it. I would say my faith is very strong," added the 50-year-old, who said he had recovered from a nervous breakdown several years ago.

Several of the men have undergone multiple crucifixions over the years.
San Fernando Archbishop Florentino Lavarias has discouraged the bloody practice, saying there were other ways to profess one’s faith.

"Our acts should be geared toward good works. Christian life is not something that is done overnight," he counselled.

San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago openly conceded that the religious ritual has vast economic benefits for the community.

He said last year’s Holy Week events drew about 60,000 foreign and local visitors, and he is hoping for more this year.

"We don’t have the exact record of the money... but for sure the Good Friday activities help our locals in their businesses," he said.

Foreign tourists who flocked to the spectacle reacted with both shock and fascination.