Hello Hivers, how are you? Hoping you have a good day today because in this blog I will bring you to the heart of Bantayan Island and discover the unusual Holy Week they have. Let's gooo !!!

---

Town Of Bantayan

One of the three municipalities on the Island of Bantayan is located in the heart of the island. The town is considered a first-class municipality in the Province of Cebu, Philippines. It has few pristine beaches compared to the two nearby towns but it has a lot of heritage sites that will narrate the story of the Spaniard's Colonization of this place.

If you are interested more in the history of the island you can find more interesting facts on this town and one of these heritage is the beautiful Parish church of Sts Peter and Paul which start the construction in 1839. I already write a blog on this church you can visit the link below to know more about the church.

Visiting One of the Oldest Church in the Philippines | #LakwatsaniIntoy Diary 028

Last April 14-17, 2022 when we visited this place together with my colleague who lives in this town. It is a holy week, a time when Christians around the world remember the sacrifices of Jesus Christ to save humanity from sin. As a Filipino and a Christian this season of solemnity is important to one us. All of us mourned the death of Jesus Christ and prayed silently for the salvation of our sins. These beliefs became part of me, actually every Holy we go to a sacred place together with my Family to pray and it is my first time welcoming Holy week in this Town.

---

Why in this Town?

Aside from being a stunning tourist destination on this Island they make noise around the world and attract a lot of tourists to visit the island. The celebration of Holy week in this town also make a buzz around the Philippines and attract peoples from different places to come to this town during Holy week. My curiosity about this news makes me decide to discover the kind of Holy Week they have.

_{Station of the Cross}

---

Discovery

This is what I discover; the way they celebrate the Holy week is unusual to everyone. Instead of a silent and solemnly Holy week they welcomed the Holy week like a festival, the town is so lively a lot of people are in the streets, a lot of attractions and activities, and some places are noisy singing and dancing will be observed around and they prepare a lot of food like meat, a fiesta totally. As I know eating meat during the holy week is prohibited until the resurrection day. It is for us to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. People of the town prayed and also mourned the crucifying of Jesus Crist but in my observation, they have more time to celebrate it vigorously than solemnly. I ask my colleague about this, especially about meat and this is the answer.

---

The Town Bantayan on this Island is exempted from fasting during Good Friday, The only place in the Philippines that the Papal give permission during the 1880s for the residents of this island to allow them to eat meat and gave them exemption on Holy Week fasting.Why?

I learned from this article of ucanews that it is because of the type of living they have, mostly the people on this island that time depended of Fishing for food and they had to attend the holy week observance on the church. No Fishing no Food and they will be forced to eat meat. Until now this exception is still effective on this Island.

This is the Town Plaza of Bantayan. The center of the town where you will find beside the Parish church of Sts Peter and Paul. This is also a busy place in town during the holy week because the station of the cross will be held here. A lot of food stalls are installed around to serve the people. I was amazed a huge of people come to this Island for the Holy Week.

The procession of the Station of the Cross takes time until it will return to the plaza and most of the people after the procession are hungry. The Food stall can't cover all the tourists, so if you're looking for a restaurant you can walk 10 minutes to their baywalk where a new food park is located that is ready to serve you.

_{Bantayan Food Park}

We try to eat here but it's already late at night around 9:00 pm we are worried about the transportation going back to the house, as per the father of my colleague transportation is hard at that time, we need to find an available jeep to let us ride. (the house we stay in is in another barangay that is 30 minutes away from the proper). So, we decided to buy food in a restaurant and have our dinner at the house.

---

How to Reach the Town of Bantayan

If you want to experience the Holy Week in the Town of Bantayan you can follow this travel guide: From Cebu City, the common ride going to Bantayan Island is with public bus transportation and a short Ferry ride. You can Ride a bus from the North Bus Terminal going directly to the Island where the bus passes through the Town of Bantayan. The travel takes four hours and 30 minutes, three hours on a land trip from the City to Hagnaya Port, and one-hour travel from Hagnaya port to the island by ferry ride. The bus fare is 300 pesos only and the Ferry fare is 350 pesos. To reach the town of Bantayan the bus travel from the port of Sta. Fe for 30 minutes to reach the town.

There are a lot of people going on this Island during Holy week, It is advisable to keep early to avoid the congestion and stranded on the pier where we experience that time. Were stranded for four hours due to a lack of ferry travel that time going to the Island. To avoid this it's better to go to the Island a day before the Holy Week.

That's how I learned about their Holy Week. The different practices we do in our place even though we are in the same religion. But the reason behind it is acceptable. This is how I end my discovery of Holy week in the heart of Bantayan Island. Hoping I give you another discoveries and knowledge on this blog. Thank you for joining me on this travel story 😊.

This is @intoy.bugoy! See you in my next Hiventure 😉

---