With this year's Holy Week stretching to a five-day holiday as Araw ng Kagitingan falls on a Monday, Manila folk have taken the opportunity to travel out of town for serious R&R.

Holy Week is also the time when Internet traffic in the Philippines plummets, with most vacationers traveling out of town and users of office bandwidth on break.

However, not everyone chooses to spend downtime outside the Metro.

GMA News Online surveyed the Internet to check out how some people are spending Good Friday and beyond.

Film critic Eduardo Dayao is spending Good Friday day at home—but working, allowing himself to watch DVDs in between. "Staycation pero not the cation part," he said. Dayao is currently busy dealing with "non-profit art stuff (such as) grant proposals, articles, scripts etc."

San Beda law student Le Bon Pascua, 23, says she is spending Good Friday at home with her family after coming back from a trip out of town earlier this week. "My friends and I intentionally stayed in Ilocos April 3rd so that we can spend the rest of the Holy Week with our families since we all have different traditions for the holidays," she said. "My family and I watch the procession that passes through our subdivision as well as the reenactment of Jesus' life," she added.

Likewise, technical recruiter Riza Fernandez, 23, is taking a rest after visiting different churches with her family on Maundy Thursday for Visita Iglesia. "Bihira lang magkaroon ng ganitong kahabang pahinga kaya lubus-lubosin na," she advised.




Regardless whether it is spent indoors or outdoors, Holy Week is the perfect time to reflect, bond with family and friends, and even be a plain couch potato by catching up on media consumption. –KG, GMA News