Pinoys welcome Easter with fireworks, predawn 'Salubong'

After three days of quiet reflection, Filipinos marked the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with a festive note, attending predawn "Salubong" processions and Masses and lighting fireworks. Some streets were temporarily closed to accommodate the Salubong procession (or the ritual of the supposed first meeting of Jesus and His mother Mary after the Resurrection). In Quezon City, many Filipino faithful took part in the joyful Salubong procession to the Santo Domingo Church, radio dzBB's Glen Juego reported. The faithful brought the image of Mary from Santo Domingo Avenue while another group brought the image of the risen Christ from Biak na Bato. Also, children were dressed for the occasion, holding candles at the procession. When the two groups "met" past 4 a.m. and entered the Santo Domingo Church, there was loud applause and fireworks, the report said. Security was tight for the procession, it added. In Manila's Quiapo district, dzBB's Mao dela Cruz reported many people attended the Salubong Mass at the Quiapo Church, although traffic at Quezon Boulevard remained light. Also in Manila, a separate report said many Filipinos trooped to the University of Santo Tomas where an Easter Mass was held at the football field. Meanwhile, an ecumenical group urged parents to teach their children to be caring, instead of just hunting Easter eggs and attending parties during the occasion. The Working Faith Movement (WFM) said it was "saddening" many see Easter as a time to party and dress children in bunny costumes. "It’s not bad to have some fun after the season of Lent but is it a lot better to teach our children, even ourselves, to embrace fully the message of Easter, and that is: we are all bound to heaven, and to be able to get there, we need to have faith, a working faith, a faith that works,” the WFM said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Sunday. It added the celebration of Easter had become commercialized and its solemnity might have been compromised because of what media had been doing. “As we can see, the media play an important role in replacing the true essence of the celebration. By publishing 'commercialized' notions of Easter, it had become the well accepted custom. This is very saddening,” it said. — LBG, GMA News