Observed during the Holy Week, this annual religious festival is quite different from the rest of the festivals in the country. Masks are worn by participants so they would like Roman centurions. These centurions march across the town in search of Longinus, their former comrade who they must now punish for converting to Christianity.
As the legend goes, Longinus was blind on one eye. Now, he was the one who speared Jesus on his side to check if he was already dead. When a drop of blood reached his eyes, his sight was restored – a miracle he attributed to the power of Jesus.
He quickly believed in Jesus and subsequently converted to Christianity, much to the anger of the Roman authorities. It is believed that Longinus was among those who guarded Jesus’ tomb for three days and witnessed his resurrection.
The story of Longinus is highlighted at the end of the festival with a theater presentation entitled, “Pugutan”, referring to his ultimate execution after the other Roman centurions caught him.
As a festival directly linked to the Holy Week celebrations, every year, the Moriones festival officially starts on the Monday of that particular week. This year, this is set at March 30, Holy Monday.
Just as the festival starts on Monday, it ends on Easter Sunday. However, observance of the Palm Sunday is often linked to the Lenten season as well; thus, you could say the celebration starts on March 29.
TRAVEL NOTES
- Marinduque Province is composed of six (6) towns namely Mogpog, Sta. Cruz, Torrijos, Buenavista, Gasan, and Boac (the capital town)
- Aside form souvenir centurion masks, arrowroot cookies and pansit miki (from Sta Cruz); and hand loom-woven buntal products like place mats, table runners, bags, wallets, and curtains (from Bonliw, Torrijos) are the best pasalubongs from the province
- Ka Amon Cave, Poctoy White Beach, Maniwaya Island, Bellaroca Resort, Bathala Cave, The Battle of Pulang Lupa site, Mt. Malindig, Tres Reyes Islands are among the most popular spots in the province
- Bring enough cash- automated teller machines (ATM), located mostly in the town proper, are usually out of cash due to bulk cash transactions and long holiday
- Manakla is a local variety of crayfish abundant in Barangay Malinao, Bonliw, and Suha in Torrijos. Usually steamed, fried or cooked in soda/coconut milk, your visit to the "Heart of the Philippines" wouldn't be complete without tasting Manakla
- Don't forget to bring your camera! Moriones Festival is one of the most colorful religious festivals in the Philippines
HOW TO GET THERE
By Land and Sea
- From Metro Manila, ride in a bus bound to Grand Central Terminal of Lucena City (Quezon) where passenger jeepneys and tricycles bound to Talao-Talao Port are available. To avoid the hassle of transferring from one transport to another, better to find buses with direct route to Talao-talao Port. Travel time from Metro Manila to Talao-talao Port is approximately 3-4 hours depending on traffic in Laguna and Quezon.
- From Talao-talao Port, there are RoRo vessels and fastcrafts with regular trip to the island province. Take note that there are 3 main ports in the province – Buyabod Pier (Sta. Cruz), Cawit Port (Boac), and Balanacan Port (Mogpog). Travel time ranges from 3-4 hours for RoRO and 2 – 2.5 hours if via fastcraft.
- No airline servicing Manila-Marinduque route as of the date this post was published.
***photographs courtesy of my travel blogger friend Mervs of pinoyadventurista.com
***Moriones Festival 2015 Schedule of Activities source: Marinduque Provincial Tourism Office
***Moriones Festival 2015 Schedule of Activities source: Marinduque Provincial Tourism Office
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