Our search led us to the Filipino 'poor man's Bible' called the "Pasyon", (published 1884), a poetic Tagalog narrative of Christ's suffering apparently based on the "Q". The Pasyon devotes over 30 pages on the life and times of that Roman soldier which also identifies him as 'Longhino'.
A Filipino priest (old folks in Mogpog say he was from Bulacan), who was to be the first parish priest of Mogpog town staged a re-enactment of the Crucifixion, and there the role of the Roman soldier was pivotal. The few (about seven) contrabida soldiers were gaudily dressed, with crude masks on their faces.
(It was Arthur M of Mogpog, a Balangaw member, who discovered in the archives of the church of Mogpog that Dionisio Santiago was stationed there from 1881 onwards, contrary to all previous literature which stated that he was there in 1807 when Mogpog was established as a municipality. The myth of 1807 goes on until this day. People obviously like to cling to what they have previously been told by scholars and political leaders).
The years that followed saw a repeat of the re-enactment, now taking the form of a ritual with more and more men participating each time, until they gave it a religious character by calling the act of participation a 'penitencia' (penitence, sacrifice), and doing it every year as a form of 'panata' (vow). To the 'moryons' their sins were washed away, not unlike the old flagellants who beat themselves till they bleed. Only, dressing up as 'moryon' and walking on the streets in the noonday heat was more civil and less violent.
Even Hitler was obssessed to own it, believing in its supernatural powers.
When we reprinted a photo and article about it in 1997, in the Moryonan souvenir program a replica of the spear was produced by Mr. Mancoy, a Moryon mask and costume artisan from Mogpog who got hold of the article. It was for their town's Longhino to use in the re-enactment.
