Holy Week (Semana Santa) 2026

Semana Santa is the most solemn week in Philippine Catholicism, running from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays, and much of the country slows to a near-standstill — media, businesses, and traffic all quiet down.

Highlights include the Visita Iglesia (visiting seven churches on Maundy Thursday), the Pabasa (a continuous chanting of the Pasyon), Senakulo passion plays, and Good Friday processions of life-size carrozas. In San Fernando, Pampanga, devotees undergo real flagellation and even voluntary crucifixion as acts of penance.

Good Friday and Black Saturday are the most reflective days, observed with silence and abstinence. Easter Sunday opens with the Salubong — a pre-dawn ritual re-enacting the meeting of the risen Christ and the Virgin Mary — followed by joyful Masses.

Like Undas, Holy Week triggers a huge exodus from Metro Manila to beaches and home provinces — terminals and expressways are jammed for days. Many shops, banks, and restaurants close from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday, so plan errands and bookings well ahead.