Singing the Pasyon

Every Holy week, in our area they still sing the "Pasyon". Usually we hear it in the background during the day: a sad wailing chant, usually sung by women in small chapels that are set up in the street.
from the Manila Bulletin:

“Pabasa” is an old, time-tested Holy Week tradition that has remained well-preserved particularly in the provinces, where it is held continuously day and night, sometimes for as long as three straight days.. In recent years, the melodies of popular tunes are sometimes used to make the chanting of the Biblical passages sound more interesting, lively, and appealing particularly, to the young.

The custom dates back a couple hundred years. From Wikipilipinas:

The pasyon is a verse narrative about the life and suffering of Jesus Christ. The verses are structured in five-line stanzas, with each line containing eight syllables. The pasyon is commonly sung during Holy Week, starting Holy Monday. The reading of the pasyon is a traditional religious practice in the Philippines and people gather around the reader of the pasyon to listen and reflect.

Usually we send a gift to help decorate the chapel and feed the singers at our barangay's local chapel (San Lorenzo).

But what about the millions of Pinoys working overseas?

The bishops here are modern: They have the entire chant on line HERE in streaming audio.

A typical example of the off-key chanting is at this video link, but

Maeken16 in Dubai has this video of a modern version of the custom (I say modern, because they use guitars and sing hymns along with the chant).