I often do Visita Iglesia on Maundy Thursday with my friends. This year, we did a different activity. We went to Poblacion and did a walking tour with Wander Manila. The tour was called Sampiro Kalbaryo.
What is Sampiro Kalbaryo?
Sampiro Kalbaryo is a special walking tour that's only held on Maundy Thursday.. The tour involves strolling around the old Spanish town of Poblacion, Makati's streets, to observe the "kalbaryos," or street grottos, that appear there during Lent. It's a tradition that spans more than 100 years already
Some bigger grottos are built as early as two weeks before Holy Week, and most are finished and beautified by Holy Wednesday. Some of them are built blocking the streets. In any orher district, such a setup would not be allowed but the people who lived their whole lives in Poblacion, it's already a norm. It's the motorists who'll have to adjust on Holy Week.
Why is the Sampiro Kalbaryo only done on a Maundy Thursday? It's because by Good Friday, the images will be taken to Sampiro Church where they will take part in a procession around Poblacion. It's a long procession that starts at five in the afternoon.
History of Sampiro Kalbaryo
The first kalbaryo started not on the streets but inside a family's house where they did pabasa (Reading of the Passion). The participants grew and grew in numbers until they could no longer accommodate everyone inside so they finally built a grotto outside the house in 1920.
It became so popular that by the following year, another group, Makati Sporting built the second kalbaryo in 1921. From that point on, the number of families and groups setting up their own grottos or street churches grew every year. Right now, there are 50 grottos set up around Poblacion, and all of those who've joined have never stopped doing it.
The kubols are not cheap to make. So where do they get their funding from? Some funding comes from the church. Some from the local government, and most of them come from people's donations.
Most kubols or grottos are taken down after Good Friday and are stored somewhere by the families or groups that built them. But there are some permanent kubols around Poblacion as well.
Some of the grottos have creative names such as Samahang Bla-gag, which is the sound you hear when you fall off your chair. Another one is named Poultry because it's beside a chicken coop. And there are grottos that are named Samahang Ilalim ng Tulay because it's literally under a bridge, and Samahan Likod Simbahan, Inc.
Leave it to Filipinos to put some humor even in a devout practice such as religion.
The Town of Poblacion
Our tour also discussed a bit of Poblacion's history. Did you know that this part of Makati was part of a bigger kingdom called the Kingdom of Namaayan, which was active in the 11th century? Then Miguel Lopez de Legaspi sailed to the town after Manila and deemed the area not good enough to build a town on. It was the Jesuits who checked out the land, found out there was a lot of clay in the soil, which would be conducive for building a pottery business. That's how Poblacion was known for a while for pottery. Up until the Americans came, and it was a little bit busy, Poblacion was still a very sleepy riverside town. Read more about the history of Makati here.
Sampiro Church, one of the oldest churches in Manila
One of the oldest religious images in Poblacion
It's a lot of work to maintain a tradition like the Sampiro Kalbaryo. It's no easy feat to build it, to have people fed during the pabasa, and to dismantle it.
This is definitely a panata or a devotion. You're doing it not for the clout but because you genuinely believe in it.
My Sampiro Kalbaryo walking tour buddies
I'm glad I was able to join this walking tour. It was very informative! I didn't know that behind the party scene or the coffee scene that Poblacion's known for these days, there is a religious tradition that's treasured as well. I was definitely enlightened.
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