MY SARISARI STORE

Away

I am on vacation in Europe till August 2009.
I hope to see you all back :-)
Take care! 

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.













Thanksgiving prayer.

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.
































I was not the only photographer around... ;-)

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.






 

On their way to the crucifixion site.

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.


















 

Buboy and John are lashed and beaten without mercy...

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.

 

A moment of prayer...

The Way of the Cross... 

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.

I only learned later on from Australian blogger CBMused, who saw some of my pictures on my facebook account, that John Michael was recognized by the Australian press to be John Safran (born 13 August 1976) an Australian documentarian and media personality, well known for pranks and indelicate handling of controversial issues. Some of his stunts includes running naked through the streets of Jerusalem, being baptised in Africa, placing a Voodoo curse on his ex-girlfriend, getting a Catholic priest to review death metal music and of course his now infamous Crucifixion in Kapitangan.
If you want to know more of John Saffran you can read the Wikipedia entry about him here.
I am not here to attack the motivation of anybody. I can only state that John managed to fool everybody and that he has guts. I wouldn’t run naked through the streets of Jerusalem nor let me be crucified. 

I was surprised to read on the internet that John Saffran was not the first foreigner to be crucified in the Philippines.  Some foreigners have previously been crucified including a Belgian !!!!!  :-)  nun and a Japanese man, who later allowed footage of his ordeal to be used in a pornographic film. In 2006 Dominik Diamond, a British broadcaster, chickened out and wept after watching nine Filipinos take their turn to be nailed on crosses and realizing that his turn was next. “God wanted me only to pray at the foot of my cross,” he sobbed, sinking to his knees and praying as local people and tourists started to boo.

The event, which is not endorsed by the Church, has developed over the
years into a major tourist attraction and pulls in thousands of fascinated
onlookers. Some locals agree that it became a big media circus and a tourist attraction but for some the real essence remains. Buboy Dionisio is without doubt one of those.

 

 

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio and John Safran.

On the early morning of Good Friday I went to the house of Buboy and was quite shocked to hear that an Australian man would be crucified together with him under his care. Together with this Australian man who identified himself as John Michael from Melbourne was a large camera crew of Australians. Two cameramen and four assistants would record the whole crucifixion of John Michael for ABC channel. A local photographer was also hired by the Australians to take pictures of the whole event.

I quickly realized that I would not be able to cover Dionisio the way I had originally planned (as the spiritual journey of Buboy leading to his crucifixion). I would no doubt have a hard time to take pictures without having foreigners and TV cameras in all my pictures... and that while the TV crew asked me to stay out of sight of their TV cameras...
 
When I go on a photo shoot like this I mentally imagine the images I want to take. John Michael was an element that jeopardized my whole photo series.  In the end I decided to follow both men the best I could. I was not able to record everything since both of them were crucified one after the other.

John Michael told me he wanted to be crucified because a voice told him. I was a bit surprised to hear he told someone else he was doing it for his mother who was dying of cancer. In any case his motivations were confused and unclear. At certain moments I was almost convinced he would back out, however he proved himself in front of the crowds to much amazement.



John Michael alias John Safran with his camera crew.




 

Crucifixion in Kapitangan, Bulacan.

Buboy Dionisio

I met Buboy Dionisio during one of my trips to Mount Banahaw while doing a series about the Rizalista. During my conversations with him I learned that he was crucified every Good Friday.  Buboy is a very friendly and open person so he quickly agreed to let me document his upcoming crucifixion.
 
We met again a few weeks before Holy Week at the home of his mother in Barangay Paombong, Bulacan. It was there that I learned that he was the youngest person ever to be crucified in Kapitangan at the age of 15. When I asked him about his motivation he told me that he got a message from the Holy Trinity in 1993 inside the Kapitangan chapel of Sto.Cristo  in Paombong.  He also had a vision of the Virgin Mary giving him three nails the first time he underwent crucifixion and each year before Holy Week he has different visions.

According to him he will continue his ordeal till the Virgin Mary instructs him to stop.  Buboy Dionisio is also known to be a faith healer with strong curative powers.  Recently however Buboy is no longer healing people since a voice told him that he should now focus his powers to spread the word of God.  Nowadays he considers himself as a missionary of God.

In this old picture you can see Buboy Dionisio as a child sitting with his father, sister and mother. Buboy has always been a mystic. You can spot the cross formed by the flash from the camera behind Buboy. The picture was old and not digitally altered and I scanned it recently. 

Buboy Dionisio.

The nails that will be used for his crucifixion.

 

Paete's Holy Week rituals.

Ang Birhen Mater Dolorosa.








A few days later they will change her outfit again to black clothes.

Paete's Holy Week rituals.

Ang Birhen Mater Dolorosa.