Manila Times - March 19, 2008 <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/mar/19/yehey/top_stories/ 20080319top5.html>
Get whipped at your own risk, penitents, pilgrims warned
By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter
The Department of Health (DOH) on Holy Tuesday strongly advised penitents to first check on the condition of the whip they will use before they lash their backs with it this Holy Week.
The department warned that dirty whips could lead to tetanus and other infections.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said that since it is hard to discourage flagellants from whipping their own flesh, the best penitents can do is ensure that their whips are well-maintained.
In San Fernando City, Pampanga, some 23 penitents, two of them women, have signed up to reenact Christ’s crucifixion in three separate improvised Golgothas in the city. Four penitents were scheduled to have themselves nailed on the cross.
Flogging themselves with whipped cords, all penitents go around the city first, before the reenactment of Christ’s Passion on the cross. The ritual has become a tourist attraction and merited a support of P250,000 from the city government.
The reenactment of the Passion of Christ is repeated in many Roman Catholic-dominated parts of the Philippines, where self-flagellation is done by penitents.
“We are not trying to go against the Lenten tradition here because whipping has somewhat already become some form of ‘atonement for sins’ for some of us,” Duque said.
“But this advice is important to make sure that no one will land in the hospital due to tetanus or other infections that penitents might get in the process,” he added.
“Getting deep cut wounds during whippings or lashings is inevitable and being so exposed during the course of the penitence, with all the heat and dust blowing in the wind, welcomes all sorts of infections and bacteria like tetanus,” the Health secretary explained.
Duque disclosed that tetanus infection generally occurs through wound contamination, and often involves a cut or deep puncture wound.
As the tetanus infection progresses, lockjaw develops and is normally followed by difficulty in swallowing, general muscle stiffness, and spasms in other parts of the body.
It usually takes two to 14 days for tetanus symptoms to develop after infection. Symptoms peak 17 days after infection.
“Tetanus infection can be prevented, however, by proper immunization and by post-exposure prophylaxis,” Duque said.
The Health department also advised pilgrims to bring their own drinking water during the traditional visita iglesia (visit to churches) and via cruces (following the Way of the Cross).
“They should bring enough drinking water for the whole course of the pilgrimage to avoid dehydration, rather than buy bottled drinking water from unfamiliar sources,” Duque stressed.
It is also better to prepare and bring self-prepared foods such as sandwiches, not only to save money, but also to avoid getting diseases such as diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid after eating food bought from street vendors, he said. --With Mark Louie P. Roxas