Pampanga
Giant Lanterns, A Church Half Buried In Lahar, And Good Friday Rites The Catholic Church Has Discouraged For Decades · San Fernando, Pampanga
PAMPANGA IS THREE THINGS AND THEY DO NOT SIT EASILY TOGETHER. IT IS THE CULINARY CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES - sisig was invented in Angeles and Kapampangan cooking is what the rest of the country measures itself against. IT HOLDS THE GIANT LANTERN FESTIVAL AT SAN FERNANDO IN DECEMBER, where parols several metres across, carrying thousands of bulbs, are choreographed to music by rival barangays. AND ON GOOD FRIDAY AT CUTUD, PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY NAILED TO CROSSES - a folk devotion the CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS DISCOURAGED FOR DECADES and which continues anyway, drawing crowds and camera crews that many Kapampangans find uncomfortable. THEN THERE IS SAN GUILLERMO CHURCH AT BACOLOR, BURIED TO HALF ITS HEIGHT BY PINATUBO LAHAR - you walk in through what used to be a second-storey window, and the congregation never left. Plan the trip around eating, because this is the acknowledged culinary capital and the sisig in Angeles is nothing like the sizzling-plate version exported elsewhere.
San Fernando and Bacolor, Pampanga, San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines
PAMPANGA IS ROUGHLY ONE TO TWO HOURS NORTH OF MANILA by expressway, with CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT in Angeles. THERE IS NO SINGLE GATE; the province is toured by car or hired van. SAN GUILLERMO CHURCH AT BACOLOR is an active parish, open and free, with the LAHAR LINE VISIBLE INSIDE. BETIS CHURCH at Guagua keeps daytime hours and its painted ceiling is the reason to go. THE GIANT LANTERN FESTIVAL runs in the weeks before Christmas at San Fernando and fills the city. THE CUTUD LENTEN RITES ARE ON GOOD FRIDAY, draw very large crowds and heavy media, and ARE A DEVOTION RATHER THAN A SHOW - the Church discourages them. EAT SISIG IN ANGELES. It is hot and flat; traffic on the expressway is heavy at weekends.