Catholics in the Philippines placed their religious statues and figurines in the church seats as their "representative" while mass gatherings are not yet allowed in the country.

In the video recorded on June 20, the wooden figures fill the seats of the with at least one metre apart distance from each other, in line with Covid-19 rules.

Father RR Ocampo, parish priest at the St Joseph, Husband of Mary Parish church in Nueva Ecija province, said: "I want to be creative in the way that parishioners will have a good feeling when they enter the church."

The province remains under General Community Quarantine which discourages mass gatherings including religious activities, but may conduct small meetings of up to 10 people only.