The First and Only Magazine for and about   Philippine Nurses all over the World

If you’re still undecided where to spend Christmas, consider the Philippines.
While there is no doubt that over the centuries, Christmas has become an international holiday celebrated by both Christian and non-Christian
countries alike, there is none that can compare to Christmas in the Philippines.   But what sets it apart from other yuletide celebrations the world over?

For a country that prides itself on being the only Christian nation in Asia, the Philippines has the record of having the longest yuletide festivities 
stretching for over three weeks.

In this archipelago of over 7,107 islands, Christmas is celebrated with both religious fervor and merrymaking.  Though Christmas in the Philippines may
have been influenced by Western traditions over the years, the people’s own traditions have surpassed the changing times.  

Even as commercialism brought about by the advent of new technologies has seeped into the culture and psyche of the nation, the religious
significance of the event that happened in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago is as alive as ever in the hearts of the local population.  
This what makes Christmas in the Philippines quite unique.

In this country of over 80 million, Christmas has its own magic that comes the minute the first “ber” month arrives. With a festive,
fun-loving spirit that is uniquely Filipino, the countdown to Christmas Day starts in September, when the sounds of Christmas carols fill the air
and a cheery atmosphere seems to envelop everyone. Display of holiday cards, tree ornaments, and lights spring up in retail outlets, shopping
malls and restaurants – especially in the cities -- and even in jeepneys careening along the streets. Christmas bazaars offering every kind
of merchandise imaginable become standard weekend destinations. This goes on with increasing fervor throughout the holiday season.

Star of the Season and the Symbols of Paskong Pinoy

Christmas in the Philippines, as in other countries, is marked by many symbols. Santa Claus, the Christmas tree, the Christmas wreath, sending
Christmas cards and singing carols are traditions inherited from the cultures of the West, but the star of the season in the Philippines is the 
Christmas lantern or what is locally known as “Parol”.
  
This symbol, which signifies the star that guided the Three Wise Men to the manger in Bethlehem where Christ was born, is part of the
country’s traditions that every Filipino can’t seem to live without.

Throughout the yuletide season, parols are hung in almost every Filipino home; they adorned malls, schools, lamp posts, stores and offices in an
explosion of blinking, pulsating and revolving colors just as soon as the sun sets.  Filipino parols used to come in simple star-shaped lanterns
made of bamboo sticks and colored papers. Over the years however, they have metamorphosed into more complex designs, and come in different
sizes, shapes and colors.
 
Philippine Christmas or what we generally call “Paskong Pinoy” is not complete without music, and the season is celebrated by Filipinos
through caroling. In most urban centers and in rural areas as well, carolers visit houses to sing Christmas songs – ranging from the
traditional “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” to the Filipinos’ very own “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit” and “Pasko na Namang Muli”.  Kids
usually band together and sing carols from house to house in their neighborhoods. Some carolers – especially those who belong to the civic
organizations -- raise funds for the less fortunate families through caroling, while others are doing it simply for the joy of singing. 
Clearly a Western tradition, the Christmas tree is very much part of Christmas in the Philippines.  But since pine trees grow only in a few
places in the country, fresh Christmas tree is very uncommon in the Philippines.  However, always the innovative people that they are, Filipinos
have created their unique and original Christmas trees using local and indigenous materials and have transformed this Christmas symbol into a
more exquisite form of art. Giant, well lighted and decorated trees are a sight to behold in the city streets, shopping malls, parks and
office building facades.

And what is Christmas in the Philippines without Simbang Gabi?  This Filipino Catholic tradition, also called Misa de Gallo, is a series of
nine dawn masses that begins on December 16 and culminates on Christmas Eve.  These masses are held at 4:00 a.m. and despite the balmy
temperature draw a large portion of the population to their local churches.

This is a religious Christmas tradition that has been passed on through the centuries. After the masses, the young and old alike love to feast on
hot chocolate, salabat (ginger tea), bibingka and puto-bumbong to shake off the morning chill. In some areas in Philippines, rural barrios come 
alive with processions and parades – another perfect excuse for decking the whole town in lights and Christmas trimmings and dressing up in one’s best.  
In the Tagalog provinces, Christmas celebration is highlighted by religious activities like the Panunuluyan, the biblical re-enactment of Mary and
Joseph’s travels to Bethlehem, their search for lodging and the birth of the Child Jesus.  

A Season of Giving and Sharing

Christmas in the Philippines is a season of sharing.  It is a time of gift-giving and a time for warm friendships. Most especially, Christmas
in the Philippines is a time for families to be together.   Nowhere is this revered tradition more evident than during Christmas Eve when
families enjoy a Christmas feast at midnight.  Called Noche Buena, it is a time for thanksgiving. 

Christmas day in the Philippines is always primarily a family affair.  The day is usually spent visiting relatives and extended families –
especially the elders – to pay one’s respects, with the endearing tradition of pagmamano of kissing the hands of the elders, who gives
blessings in return. Because Christmas is the most important celebration of the year in any Filipino family, people try to make the most of it.   

On Christmas Day,
every Filipino home – no matter how palatial or humble – will have something for everyone to come home to.  Even in the poorest of homes
the spirit of the season is alive as people try to spread a bit of Christmas in their own way, with friends, guests or visitors partaking of
whatever food were prepared by the host family.

On New Year’s Eve, families once more gather for the traditional “Media Noche” or midnight meal, a feast that is also supposed to
symbolize their hopes for a prosperous New Year.  The coming of the New Year is greeted and welcomed in the country with loud noises and sounds of
merrymaking – usually with the use of fireworks and firecrackers that lasts throughout the evening and all through the day.

The Feast of the Three Kings, also known as the Feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the New Year, is one more
happy excuse for more gift-giving.  However, it was not Santa Claus but the Three Kings from the East who came bearing gifts for the
children. While Christmas is supposed to officially end by The Feast of the Three Kings, the strains of carols usually still hang in the air and
yuletide decorations stay up just a little longer – like a happy memory that refuses to fade.

Yes…it’s a long celebration…Christmas without end.  That’s the way Pinoys like it. The combination of Filipino generosity and their
naturally fun-loving spirit makes Christmas in the Philippines uniquely different -- the family togetherness, the feasting, the gift-giving, the
religious significance of the birth of the Christ Child -- and gives it the true meaning and reason for the season.