Uno: Fully Articulated "We are created from music, photography, literature and the almighty source code."

The Agony in Cutud

Cutud, a town 30 minutes away from Joey’s ancestral home, is world-famous for its Lenten rites, which are held every Good Friday, or the Friday before Easter. The snuffx.com-worthy rites are a re-enactment of Christ’s Passion and Death, complete with a passion play, culminating with the actual nailing of at least three flagellants to a wooden cross atop a makeshift Calvary.

Joey and Rey once accompanied Edith, photographer and close friend, to Cutud to shoot pictures for a documentary. To get to the Calvary, which is the stage for the crucifixions, one had to endure a 30-minute walk along a dirt road packed with both pilgrims and tourists. Many foreign visitors, especially those who are not used to choking on dust under the 30-degree-celcius-hot sun, do not make it to the Calvary.

WARNING: The following scenes contain blood and gore. Viewer discretion is advised.

The flagellants march a bloody parade to their waiting crosses. Their backs, arms and legs were cut and then whipped with rope tied to thin bamboo strips. Once in a while, they splash an unguarded tourist (e.g. Joey) with fresh blood.

While Edith hobnobbed with photojournalists from the Discovery Channel on the Calvary, Joey and Rey drank Coke with a group of Jesuses who were just taken down from their crosses. Yes, in Cutud, after Crucifixion comes Refreshments.

It was a most unusual, unforgettable journey, and Joey hopes, God be merciful, that they never return to Cutud ever again.