Multi-colored lanterns and Christmas carols are seen and heard in all the Christian towns of this country, which received the Catholic Cross in 1521, including the highly urbanized metropolis of nearly 13 million people.
The lanterns, seen from above like fireflies at midnight, provide lights along the MacArthur Highway north of Manila which overwhelm night travelers passing by—those from the Ilocos and Benguet or those driving from the metropolis for quick visits to the province at this time.
Some towns in La Union, like Aringay and Bacnotan; Ilocos Sur, like Cabugao and Sinait; and Ilocos Norte, like Badoc, the hometown of the Lunas, and the Darat junction in Pinili, where Filipino guerrillas fought hand-to-hand combat against the Americans during the Philippine American War, have their share of the night lights from giant lanterns along the concrete and snaking MacArthur Highway.
In the metropolis, particularly near the Greenhills shopping center, motorists can switch off their head lights with the bright gleam from lanterns of different shapes on both sides of Gilmore street.
At the busy Roxas Blvd. fronting Manila Bay, lanterns of different shapes and with several bulbs are hung on electric posts, making a kaleidoscopic skyline for the capital during the night. While Ayala Avenue in the posh district of Makati is lit up by the Ayala Land with ornaments and light installations.
This year’s design showcases bronze cone-shaped Christmas trees, angel wings and abanico-inspired installations maximizing local products such as capiz chandeliers. The art installation symbolizes light and life, and sends “a message of hope and strength.”
The Christmas lanterns are like the carols being sung starting in September in this country, one of two predominantly Catholic countries in Asia—the other is East Timor—which have become a lasting symbol for one of the biggest holidays in this archipelago of 108 million.
The official observance does not begin until Dec. 16, with what Tagalogs call the Simbang Gabi, or what Ilocanos call Miatinis, or what Cebuanos call Misa de Gallo from the Spanish term which means Mass of the Rooster, and lasts until Epiphany.
Symbol of Christmas
The Philippines, which became a predominantly Christian nation in the 16th century following the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, has several symbols of Christmas, but the lanterns are the biggest in this country.
Homes and buildings are dolled up with beautiful star lanterns called parol, from the Spanish farol which means lantern.
Traditionally, parols, made of bamboo sticks wrapped with crepe paper and a candle to illuminate it, are denotative of the star of Bethlehem which led the lowly shepherds to Jesus’ manger 2,000 years ago.
Almost every home, city street, building, shopping district, public square, department store, commercial area, and church are decorated with lustrous Christmas trees and prismatic blinking lights.
Even on passenger buses, and in jeepneys and private vehicles, small lanterns are seen with twinkling bulbs in dazzling patterns.
Originally, the Filipino lantern was made of thin bamboo frames and masked with colored cellophane or with rice paper also known as Japanese paper or papel de Japon. It has two tails that serve as the rays of the star.
Nowadays, the materials range from plastic, shells, glass, beads, foil, feathers, hemp, leaves, seeds, soft drink straws, wood, and even metal.
They usually come in different sizes: from small, tinsel and foil lanterns to big ones that are electrically lit at night, and may have one, three, or more tails aside from the pervasive two.
A few observers say some lanterns have a surrounding “halo” while the number of points may usually range from four to around 10 or even more.
As for stellate patterns, more complex shapes that are seen are the rose, the bromeliad, the snowflake, and the sea urchin. Other designs aside from the common stellate pattern include that of angels, huge flowers, Santa Claus’s face, reindeer, happy faces, and Christmas trees, among other Western holiday symbols.
Today’s parol has evolved from the old star-shaped lantern to something like round, rectangular, or even square, like a diorama with the Nativity on it—the last often seen at entrances to posh shopping malls in the metropolis.
Joy to the world
Some Filipinos say the lantern—its making now a traditional folk craft—represents the Filipino capacity for innovation, creativity and it is the greatest expression of Christmas spirit which echoes in the song “Joy to the world” written in 1719 by English hymn writer and theologian Isaac Watts (1674-1748), then only 45.
Parol making, which has become a source of income for some Filipinos, is not only a Christmas symbol but a suggestive of hope for lots of lantern makers. These lantern makers make parol as early as June and hawk them in October, with vendors shuffling feet everywhere—on sidewalks, bus stops, jeepney stops, and along busy highways.
In Christmas celebrations in many towns outside the capital, a lantern parade is always made to showcase the craft of participants.
In Pampanga, north of Manila, there is a giant lantern festival every December in the provincial capital which has become famous for its unique star lanterns in shapes, colors, and sizes made from all kinds of material. The admittedly colorful annual event has earned for the town, founded in 1754, the sobriquet “Christmas capital of the Philippines.”
Recently, innovations from Pampanga included production of lanterns with electronic lights that can be programmed to produce a dancing effect, known as “flexilight” lanterns.
Somewhere at the lagoon in Moncada, Tarlac, which has since become the covered public plaza of the rising second-class town, Christmas songs take the night air—like the song “Joy to the World.”
In Barangay Atencio, on the west side of the main national MacArthur Highway, the Tagalog Christmas song “Pasko Na Naman” is being sung by young boys and girls in front of lantern-decorated houses.
At the town proper, where Christmas lights are aplenty, the night breeze wafts the familiar Ilocano song, among others sung by primary graders and the elderly:
Ala kadin, inkay’ yawat/ ‘Tay aginaldomi a pirak/ Ta uray sisiam a sikapat/ No isut’ itedyo kadakam a pagayat.// (Please give it now to us/ The money as our Christmas gift/ Although they form part of some loose change/ Provided that’s the symbol of your love.//)