On Black Saturday of every Holy Week, the people of Barangay San Pedro, Antique, hold a ritual revolving around the giant effigy of Judas. Although this ritual is commonly found in a number of towns all over the Philippines, what is unique to the Judas ritual in Barangay San Pedro is the giant wooden phallus that is attached to Judas' effigy.
This paper is a study of the Judas ritual, from its beginnings (probably) in the first decade ofthe 20th century to the present. It is analyzed as the site (or symbol) of the battle for supremacy between the Aglipayan Iglesia Filipina Independiente and the Catholic Church when the former was newly founded in Antique in 1903, down to the presen~ when it is now seen as a symbol of ecumenism in Barangay San Pedro. To provide a historical context for analysis, the paper will recount actual confrontations occurring between Aglipayans and Catholics in the Visayan islands in the first few decades of the 1900s.
ISSN 0117-2840 (Print)
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