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Filipino Catholics marched through the streets whipping themselves and lacerating their backs with razorblades in a bloody religious ritual to atone for their sins.

Gruesome footage from the sleepy town of Pakil, about 70km east of Manila, shows masked devotees performing the acts of self-inflicted pain to mark the Holy Week.

They struck their backs with wooden rods, one for each station of the cross as depicted in Catholic tradition of Jesus' walk to the hill of Golgotha where he was crucified.