 superB*** na hook talaga ako dito sa commercial na ito!!! i find this cuTe*** check this out on your TV sets & in YOUTUBE*** YUOTUBERS... watch it***   SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines -- Devout Roman Catholic Ruben Enaje donned a crown of thorns as he put himself through the agonizing ordeal of being nailed to a cross -- for the 22nd time.
The 47-year-old decorator was the first of 19 men in this northern Philippines village Friday who underwent the gruesome Easter crucifixion ritual, an extreme form of penance by devotees wanting to thank God for answering their prayers.
On the one occasion he skipped it eight years ago, he said, he was struck down with stomach ulcers and his wife was taken ill.
"It is painful and difficult. But I will continue doing this for as long as I can. This is my pledge to God," the father of four told Agence France-Presse as he prepared his ceremonial garb at his modest wooden home.
Thousands of tourists braved the tropical heat Friday to flock to this poor farming community about an hour's drive north of Manila to witness the religious rites.
The re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is part of a bloody annual spectacle that shocks outsiders in this devoutly Roman Catholic nation.
Neighbors costumed like Roman centurions dragged Enaje and the other penitents through the village streets and toward a barren hill where three wooden crosses and a large crowd of at least 2,000 tourists awaited.
He screamed in agony as seven-inch (18-centimeter) metal nails were driven into both palms and feet while lying spread-eagled over the cross.
The wooden contraption was stood for about five minutes before it was hauled down again and the nails pulled out. The process was repeated for the other volunteers.
Hours ahead of the ceremony, scores of other local men whipped themselves bloody with strips of bamboo attached to strings to atone for their sins.
The dominant Roman Catholic Church frowns on these extreme practices and the health department has warned the penitents to take anti-tetanus shots first and to sterilize their equipment.
"The church does not recommend it because the church is against self-flagellation," said Father Norman Vitug, the local parish priest.
"Of course when we express our faith to the Lord the Church does not want us to hurt ourselves for us to experience the Love of God.
"But we cannot question somebody's faith. It's just an expression of their faith. We do not lead their lives so we do not know what happens to them while experiencing that, so we might as well respect it," the priest added.
The crucifixions are organized by the village council, with help from the national government's tourism department, said village official Leonard David.
The order of the crucifixions were done "according to seniority," with Enaje first because he had done it the most in the past, David added. ***   We see them all the time, in our daily commute, coming to and from work or school, we see children working in the streets. The Philippines has become a thief, stealing the childhoods of millions of Filipino Children.
“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”
But what kind of future can our children bring, if, instead of books to learn and toys to enjoy, they hold a basket full of cigarettes to sell?
  This is a picture by an excellent photographer Parc Cruz. It is a Brazilian child.
I do not know what is more important in our lives than our children. It is an old cliche that our children are our future. But in our actions our memory fades.
When we promise our filipino children the moon and stars, and they finally look down to see the scars of a torn country. Ravaged by poverty and abuse, by drugs and alcohol, by corruption and bitterness. We live here, not in the sky. Our grasp does not reach the stars, but is far enough to reach our children.
Our future, is that child. In front of you.
  ang tanum...KinaBuhi dAw sa TAo.iNgun siLa Kini mAo Ang naGahaTag kaNAto Ug kUsug...iNubaNan pa Sa laiNg mGa maTang nGa AdunaY kinuBUhi... 
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