GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/21 April) – For the third straight year, police officials and personnel in Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao will stage a reenactment of the traditional Seven Stations of the Cross here in observance of Good Friday.
Senior Supt. Lester Camba, Philippine National Police (PNP)-Region 12’s deputy regional director for administration, said Thursday the religious reenactment mainly highlights their ongoing activities at the regional police headquarters in Barangay Tambler here as part of the commemoration of the Holy Week.
“This is our way of remembering the passion of Jesus and expressing our solidarity with the Christian population in this most important religious event,” he said.
Camba said the reenactment of the Seven Stations of the Cross, which depicts the events prior to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, will cover the three-kilometer rugged road from the national highway to the PNP-12 compound.
He said top regional police officials led by Region 12 police director Chief Supt. Benjardi Mantele and police personnel assigned at the regional office and nearby police stations will take turns in carrying a wooden cross through the procession, which would conclude at the PNP-12 chapel.
Aside from police officials and personnel, he said the procession through the Seven Stations of the Cross would be joined by their families, some local officials and residents.
“We sent out invitations to residents and officials of our neighboring communities to join us to make the event more meaningful,” Camba said.
PNP-12’s Good Friday reenactment of the Seven Stations of the Cross has already attracted a huge following among local Catholic faithful since it was launched in 2009 by Director Felicisimo Khu, former regional police chief who now heads the PNP’s Directorate for Integrated Police Operations-Western Mindanao.
Khu served as one of the cross carriers during the procession then, an act matched by his successor, Chief Supt. Gil Meneses, in last year’s reenactment activity.
The police official started the Good Friday rites as part of PNP-12’s values formation activities and to allow Christian faithful within the police force to take part in the important religious event while performing their official duties at the regional police headquarters.
Camba said they decided to continue with the staging of the Seven Stations of the Cross this year to make it an annual religious undertaking of PNP-12.
“This is something that we really want to establish as a tradition here. So we’re urging everyone to come and join us in this celebration of our faith,” he added. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
