Holy Week (Spanish: Semana Santa) is a significant religious observance in the Philippines for the Catholic majority, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or the Philippine Independent Church, and most Protestant groups. One of the few majority Christian countries in Asia, Catholics make up 78.8 percent of the country's population, and the Church is one of the country's dominant sociopolitical forces.
The days of the Easter Triduum (Maundy Thursday until Black Saturday) are considered statutory holidays. During this period, many businesses are closed or operate on shorter hours. Local terrestrial television and most radio stations usually go off the air (for annual maintenance of broadcast equipment), while others (such as stations owned by various denominations) shorten broadcasting hours and feature Lenten drama specials, religious and inspirational programming.
Impacts on ABS-CBN[]
As ABS-CBN is a local station, the network observes the Holy Week by airing special programming, such as Star Cinema films, or Tagalog-dubbed international films.
This tradition was carried over to A2Z and Kapamilya Channel starting in 2021 following the shutdown of ABS-CBN in May 5, 2020.
Notable Holy Week years[]
2016[]
A catch-up marathon of We Will Survive and The Story of Us was aired during the 2016 Triduum.
2018[]
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was aired during the morning timeslots of the entire Paschal Triduum of 2018.
2019[]
The Hobbit was aired throughout the entire 2019 Triduum.
2020[]
The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy was aired throughout the entire 2020 triduum.
2021[]
A catch-up marathon of Huwag Kang Mangamba was aired during the 2021 triduum.