Holy Week in the Philippines held in towns throughout the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and in the Ilocandia, as well as in Makati in Metro Manila. Except in the Bulakenyo towns of Baliuag and Pulilan, the Passion tableaux are excluded from the Good Friday afternoon procession. Maundy Thursday (Huwebes Santo) is the first statutory public holiday of the week, and marks the beginning of the Paschal Triduum. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the Procession of the Passion of Christ was held on Maundy Thursday. This was later transferred to Holy Wednesday for Latin Rite Catholics, with the Philippine Independent Church (which separated
Maundy Thursday males partook of the rite. Others theorize that the English name "Maundy Thursday" arose from "maundsor baskets" or "maundy purses" of alms which the king of England distributed to certain poor at Whitehall before attending Mass on that day. Thus, "maund" is connected to the Latin "mendicare", and French "mendier", to beg. A source from the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod likewise states that, if the name was derived from the Latin "mandatum", we would call the day Mandy Thursday, or Mandate Thursday, or even Mandatum Thursday; and that the term "Maundy" comes in fact from the Latin "mendicare", Old French "mendier",