AMANG HINULID by Antonette Laynes

          If you are asked to name a person here in Bicol who is not aware of Amang Hinulid, I am skeptical that it would be easy for you. Most of Bicolanos even those who are not Bicolanos, know Amang Hinulid because of the miraculous stories about him even before his sculpture was built.

          Hinulid is a wooden life-size image of a dead Christ lying which originally came from Spain. Some people also call it "Santo Sepulcro". It is currently located in Sta. Salud Calabanga, Camarines Sur. However, the image here in Calabanga is not the only white image of Hinulid. It also seems to be most popular since thousands of devotees and pilgrims from different cities and provinces go there most especially during the Lenten Season to grieve and remember the death of Christ which saved us from our sins. These people usually take more than a 12 km trek from Naga City to Calabanga. Some of them even walk barefooted. If you are going to ask them why they are doing so, they might answer back that it is because it is already part of their "Panata".