Holy Week 2007: Good Friday

Despite the prayer vigil ending at 5AM, the Tanquilut ancestral home was bustling with activity early Friday morning.



Here's Tito Rolly atop the karo. First to say hi to the karo were the round lights.



Kids were everywhere! Gibo and Celine played angels in the morning, donning a pair of wings and a halo-esque crown (probably from Celine's first Holy Communion). Syempre, ako ang director sa mga shots below! See angelic Gibo and mischievous Gibo.




Isabelle, Kuya Andre and Rhea's youngest, slept soundly most part of the day. She has jet black hair! Quite a contrast from her Ate Ianna.



Here's our family heirloom, the wooden Pieta. The Pieta's older than most of our Titas. It still looks life-life after so many decades.



Our mother hen, Nanay Naty was in good spirits, even if she only got 3-4 hours of sleep. Here she is with Lola Juling and Michael (Tito Tony's son).




Here's Nanay with Auntie Aida, Tito Romy's sister. She participated in the prayer vigil the evening before. This was taken after the ladies had their daing na bangus and sumang latik breakfasts.



The La Pieta Prayer Group Caloocan and Paranaque were in full-force!



We needed strong, strapping lads to lift the Pieta up to the karo. Here's Chacha flexing his muscles.




Lunch time, most of us drove to Florida Blanca for a Chincuancao lunch. In the van with us was the very perky Alfonso, whose love for candy and his Lola Myrna made him a force to be reckoned with (in terms of energy and kakulitan).



Indang None was the head chef of the Chincuanco kitchen. On the menu was salcidadong labanos, fried hito and bangus, buro, ampalaya, and sinigang sa bayabas. Most of us returned for seconds (some for thirds!).





Here's Fonzie again with Mommy Abi. Not shown in pictures... the bully Gibo who got a kick out of teasing Fonzie "basurero" and "di ka na kuya". Hehe. Tita Molly was there to police the naughty Gibo.



After a merienda of corn, we all headed back to the house in San Isidro to prepare for the procesion.

Here's Ianna, smiling!



Baby Ianna and Baby Isabelle cooled their jets and played for most part of the day.



Pretty Tanquilut girls! Mitchie, Tenten, Abigail, and Gengen. Color combination rocks!



Tetet brought a new friend along. His name is JP. But we have christened him "Ninoy"... for obvious reasons.



The evening soon came and we all scrambled to put on our comfy shoes and grab a candle. The generator noisily announced its presence behind the Pieta and lit the round lights. Beto decorated the karo.




Here are Lester, Tito Boy, Tita Edith, and Mitchie. These Tanquiluts will be going on an Eastern European holiday in the next few weeks.



The procession was long. It's a physically challenging sacrifice, which every year ends with a filling dinner. Hehe. Check out what we had this year. The runaway hit is of course Tita Guste's sinigang sa bayabas.



The folks hung around the house after the procession. Here are Tito Hermie, Tita Rosie, Tito Ferdie, and the Artetas. Marjorie and BG were MIA.



The boys, after pulling the karo, goofed around. Kuya Marlon was absent. He and Milet were in Boracay with Kuya's Buds. Quick Kuya Marlon news... he has returned working for PCGG. His housemates share that Kuya didn't like the night shift schedule (cramped his gimik hours).



Here are Cha, Janjan (Cha's younger brother), and Pao.



Baby Iya charmed everyone! This baby must be one of the nicest babies ever. Haha. Ate Abi and Tita Myr held her for a while. As expected, the Fonze threw a jealous fit. And Gibo just had to tease Fonzie about it.



Here's Iya with Ninong Rommel. On Iya's godparent roster... Mitchie, Kuya Andre, Kuya Jun, and Judy. Bigatin!



Tita Molly and Tito Carlito's kids were nowhere to be seen. Magdedate daw sila. Hehe. In this picture with Tita Molly are Tita Marison and Tita Gina.



The final physical challenge of the evening was to bring the Pieta back up to its resting place, on the second floor of the house. The boys mustered their remaining energies.



Success! The boys rejoice (after a few body contortions). Rommel was the volunteer cheerleader who contributions include saying, "Go Team!"



Next stop... Fontana!