Philippine Broadcast Media Stations Close Down For Rest of Holy Week—Here's Why

With Christians around the world now in the middle of Holy Week, many in the Philippines are preparing to visit relatives in the countryside or enjoy a long vacation.

At the same time, most businesses and services either close or limit their hours, except for those located in tourist destinations, especially on Good Friday, when Christians commemorate Jesus's death.

Meanwhile, Filipino terrestrial television and radio stations either close down, limit their broadcast operations, or go into special programming on the latter part of Holy Week - with limited news bulletins in between programs and commercial breaks if applicable - after winding down operations on Spy Wednesday, the day when Christians believe Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.

Some stations close down or limit their programming due to maintenance work, but others do so to reflect the somber nature of the observance. They usually advise their audiences beforehand, at least the week before Holy Week.

For example, the Philippine News Agency, a state-operated news website, announced on its homepage that it would not publish news items from Good Friday to Holy Saturday this year (Mar. 29-30).

"In observance of the Holy Week, the Philippine News Agency's online news service will be off on March 29, Good Friday, and March 30, Black Saturday," the announcement read. "Normal operations will resume on March 31, Easter Sunday."

In addition, during regular programming from Monday to Wednesday of Holy Week, some programs either broadcast replays of their previous taped-as-live episodes or delve into special programming, which could be observed on Philippine noontime shows.

Filipino Redditors Recall Pre-Internet Holy Week Experiences

Meanwhile, Filipinos on several Reddit threads recall how Holy Week was before the dawn of the internet.

On one thread, a person identifying as a member of Generation Z was curious about how it was every Holy Week pre-internet.

"I would ... like to hear your experiences on watching TV," the redditor wrote. "[M]y research usually pinpoints the untimely passing of Rico Yan [a deceased Filipino actor who died within Holy Week] as the turning point for stations to have yearly programming during Triduum."

Some of the comments on the thread explained that the 1956 film "The Ten Commandments," starring Charlton Heston as Moses, became a staple of Holy Week broadcasting, alongside broadcasts reflecting on the seven last words of Jesus from the cross between 12:00 and 15:00 local time every Good Friday.

"Pre-internet years, [the] only form of entertainment is TV & Radio," a Redditor commented. "If you want to go out, there's nowhere to go, [since] malls and stores are closed."

"Streets were pretty much empty. Quiet," said another. "Less to almost no traffic. Most employers observe the Holy Week, so the majority of employed people don't have work on those days. Maybe except for industries that are 'essential.'"

However people observe Holy Week, at the end of the day, it is the person's disposition that determines how the remaining days before Easter are spent.