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MANILA - Christmas, Filipinos’ favorite time of the year, is less than 100 days away. The countdown to Christmas has stores nationwide abuzz with excitement as they start to play Christmas carols to remind customers that the Holidays is, indeed, just around the corner. Christmas lanterns start becoming a common sight in the Philippines.
The Philippines, being a predominantly Catholic country, observes the longest Christmas season in the world. The official observance is from December 16 with the start of Simbang Gabi (midnight or dawn mass) until the first Sunday after New Year’s Day for the Epiphany or Three King’s Day. Since 2011, the Catholic Church mandated that the season ends on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, held on either the Monday after Epiphany or the second Sunday of the year. But it’s the start of the “ber” months that heralds Christmas time for Filipinos who extend the celebrations up to the third Sunday of January for the Feast of the Santo Nino de Cebu.
Christmas in September kicks off with early bazaars for the intrepid Christmas shoppers. A website, fitzvillafuerte.com has so far listed down at least 15 Christmas bazaars happening around Metro Manila and nearby cities this season. More are expected to sprout all over the country as we move closer to December 25, Christmas Day.
Ballet Philippines will present A Christmas Carol in ballet storybook form for this year’s Christmas season. Then, starting November 30 until December 8, the Cultural Center of the Philippines will present Edna Vida-Froilan’s ballet performance based on Charles Dicken’s popular novel, A Christmas Carol. It is Ballet Philippines’ Christmas offering in a ballet multimedia storybook form that should add joy to the occasion.
Touristy events are also in the pipeline. Expect the Giant Lantern Festival held the Saturday before Christmas Eve in San Fernando City, Pampanga. It will have the usual competition of giant lanterns that earned this city the title “Christmas Capital of the Philippines”. Complementing this festival is the “Belenismo sa Tarlac”, a contest that looks for the best nativity scene among establishments and residents in Tarlac, which is known as the Belén Capital of the Philippines.
While it could be hard to think about Christmas with the ongoing armed conflict in Zamboanga, the gut-wrenching P10 billion pork barrel scam, the unsettling developments in Panatag Shoal, and other issues that weigh the country down, there’s really nothing to stop Christmas from happening. Perhaps, what Filipinos could do is to take inspiration from a Christmas song by the late great composer and lyricist Levi Celerio that ended with these words: “...At magbuhat ngayon, kahit hindi Pasko ay magbigayan.”
Guns, clans, rogue Muslim rebels undermine south Philippine peace
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines, Sept 15 - A week of violence in the southern Philippines has undercut hopes of lasting peace in the resource-rich region and exposed the government to criticism for underestimating rogue Muslim rebels who feel ignored by a landmark deal last year.
The agreement signed by President Benigno Aquino and the biggest Muslim rebel group last October was meant to pave the way for a revival of southernmost Mindanao island after 40 years of conflict, giving Muslims there more autonomy in the Catholic-majority country.
That deal, with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), remains on track, but the assault on the commercial hub of Zamboanga City by hundreds of armed rebels has underlined fears that the region’s volatile mix of guns, clans and disgruntled rebel factions could yet derail the process. The army said 61 people, including 51 members of the breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), had been killed in the fighting, now in its seventh day. Ninety people have been wounded.
Aquino, who visited the city on Friday to face one of the biggest security crises of his three-year rule, must decide whether to crack down on the group - risking spreading violence - or open talks that could complicate the peace process. A brief ceasefire collapsed on Saturday and troops were still battling rebels in Zamboanga, a port that is home to 800,000 people, and the nearby island of Basilan on Sunday, forcing thousands to flee. The violence has paralysed the port, shutting banks and businesses, setting around 300 houses on fire and grounding flights. The rebels made their surprise attack on Monday, trying to march through the city to plant a flag of independence.
“There’s only one word to describe what is happening in the city - catastrophic,” said Cholo Soliven, president of the Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We are losing a lot, our economy is bleeding.”
It’s beginning to feel like Christmas
Peace in Mindanao
Questioned
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