Caritas Tarlac has asked the faithful to make the Lenten practices more meaningful by supporting Alay Kapwa.

"This Palm Sunday is Alay Kapwa Sunday. Let’s all do our share of giving and sharing.. Your generosity will go a long way to better the lives of others," it said in a Facebook post.

Caritas Tarlac said the funds collected from the donations will be used for its programs and activities to help its beneficiaries like students scholars, PWDs to name a few.

It added that a percentage of the collection will be shared to Caritas Philippines.

Palm Sunday, which will be observed on April 10, ushers in the start of Holy Week.

Meanwhile, the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) asked the faithful to continue to follow the health protocols during the observance of Holy Week saying the threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remains present.

"Even though the pandemic has subsided, let us not let our guard down. Let us continue following the health protocols so that we can finally defeat this pandemic," CBCP President Bishop Pablo David said in an interview over Radio Veritas.

"We must continue wearing face masks and observe physical distancing as a way to care for one another," he added.

David also discouraged the extreme practices of some penitents during Holy Week such as self flaggelation and getting nailed to the cross.

"Until now, we discourage people in doing those practices as there are other ways to sacrifice or do penitence," he said.

"The most important way of penitence is to do charity, especially for the poor," added David.