The annual “Taong Putik” Festival (or Pagsa-San Juan) was celebrated on June 23 in Bibiclat, Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, as hundreds of Catholic devotees coated themselves in mud and dried banana leaves to honor Saint John the Baptist.
Gathering in rice fields before dawn, participants adopted this natural disguise to symbolize humility, penance, and a detachment from worldly vanity, mirroring their patron saint’s ascetic life. Following their preparation, the mud-covered faithful walked silently through the streets to beg for alms and candles, an exercise in humility that culminated in a mass and offering at the Diocesan Shrine of Saint John the Baptist.
This unique tradition dates back to World War II, when local villagers were saved from execution by Japanese soldiers through what they believed was a miraculous intervention. After women and children prayed fervently to Saint John the Baptist, a sudden, heavy downpour forced the soldiers to cancel the execution, allowing the villagers to escape. In profound gratitude for their survival, the saved residents rolled in the mud and wrapped themselves in leaves, inspiring a symbolic ritual of deliverance that has been faithfully re-enacted every June 24th across generations. By Salvador “Jon” Fabrigar
