Six juveniles splashed paint on an already repainted structure and images at a pilgrimage site in Alimodian town, Province of Iloilo. 

After a repainting in preparation for the influx of of visitors during the Holy Week, the beautification works were splattered with paint, much to the dismay of personnel of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Alimodian. 

The LGU is in charge of maintaining Agony Hill where a Stations of the Cross site is frequented by visitors. 

The vandalism was discovered morning on April 8, 2025. Images and a structure at Station 13 were splattered with paint.

“Ang dami na, marumi. Sinabuyan nila ng pintura,” Carlson Alinday, maintenance worker at Agony Hill, said.

The paint that was used is what remains of the repainting works done earlier to the images.

The six vandals were identified immediately with the help of a video uploaded on social media. The six students went up Agony Hill on April 6, 2025.

Alimodian Police invited the juveniles and their parents for questioning.

“Ang mga magulang nila nagpapakahirap sa pagtatrabaho upang mapag-aral sila. Ang mga bata, ganito (ang ginagawa),” Alimodian Municipal Police Station chief, Captain Marion Asparo said.

The police have turned in custody of the juveniles to personnel of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office for the appropriate intervention.

Asparo, however, recommended that the vandals be tasked to render community service right at Agony Hill.

“Maglinis sila doon. Para at least, maramdaman nila kung gaano kahirap umakyat doon at ang perwisyong dulot ng ginawa nila,” Asparo stressed. 

Agony Hill is one of the popular pilgrimage destinations in Iloilo during the observance of the Holy Week. It has 14 Stations of the Cross that depict the Passion of Jesus Christ.

On April 9, 2025, Alimodian LGU employees cleaned up the vandalized images and structure through another round of repainting to restore the images to their earlier repainted version.

(GMA Regional TV One Western Visayas Desk)