ILOILO City – Almost 30,000 local and foreign tourists flocked to the island province of Guimaras at the peak of the Holy Week, estimates from the Philippine Coast Guard showed.
More than half of them came to witness the famous reenactment of the Passion of Jesus at the Bala-an Bukid in Barangay Sanao, Jordan town, the Coast Guard-Iloilo said.
Of the around 28,000 two-day tourist arrivals in Guimaras, around 11,000 arrived on Maundy Thursday while visitors on Good Friday numbered around 17,000.
Around 17,000 of the total went to Bala-an Bukid – around 4,000 on Maundy Thursday and an estimated 13,000 on Good Friday – Coast Guard-Iloilo figures showed.
Bala-an Bukid is a popular destination among tourists and devotees every Holy Week for the reenactment locally dubbed “Ang Pagtatal sa Guimaras” every Good Friday.
More tourists are expected to arrive in Guimaras today, Easter Sunday.
Many Roman Catholic families usually celebrate the Feast of Resurrection by going on beach excursions, according to Coast Guard-Iloilo commander Lieutenant Rodolfo Dela Peña.
Dela Peña clarified that there was not much difference between the number of Guimaras Holy Week tourists this year and last year.
“Wala man nagnubo, wala man nagtaas sang sobra,” he said. “Unlike three years ago nga nagaka-abot sila (tourists) 24,000 [on Good Friday alone].”
Dela Peña said the trips and the flow of the thousands of passengers were “well-organized.” “Most important,” he said, “wala kita untoward incident nga natabu [at sea].”
Before Maundy Thursday the Coast Guard inspected all Guimaras-bound motorboats, especially those issued a special permit to ferry passengers from the Ortiz Wharf in this city to the Bundolan Point, the foot of Bala-an Bukid.
Coastguards checked the overall seaworthiness of the vessels and the presence of fire extinguishers and lifesaving gears.
Operators of motorboats found to have deficiencies were given time to comply with requirements and their vessels will be subject to another round of inspections.
Meanwhile, in Iloilo, coastguards distributed flyers on the dos and don’ts while at beaches this Easter Sunday.
The Coast Guard advised parents to prevent their young children from swimming further off the beach on their own and for everyone to avoid swimming when drunk.
Seventy Coast Guard personnel were also deployed to beaches in barangays Calumpang in Molo district and Villa in Arevalo to respond to emergencies, said Dela Peña.
Moreover, some sea vessel trips from Iloilo City to Bacolod City have resumed after they were temporarily suspended in view of the Holy Week.
The vessel companies and the time and day their suspended trips returned to normal are as follows:
* Weesam Express – 6:30 a.m., March 31
* OceanJet – 6:05 a.m., March 31
* SuperCat – 8 a.m., March 31
* Fastcat – 8 p.m., March 30
* FF Cruz Ferry – 5:30 a.m., March 31
Suspended Trans-Asia Shipping Lines trips will resume 6 p.m. on Sunday while those under Cokaliong Shipping Lines, 7 p.m. of the same day./PN
