The strains of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer echo around a popular shopping mall in Quezon City, Philippines.
A band of mechanical snowmen wearing Santa hats sway back and forth to the music, as shoppers — socially distanced — browse stacks of baubles and Christmas lights.
In the Philippines, a majority Catholic country, festive preparations are already well and truly underway. The country has one of the longest Christmas periods in the world, with celebrations beginning at the start of September and, for some, lasting as late as Valentine’s Day.
Photo: EPA-EFE
This year, festivities will inevitably be different. On top of a ban on gatherings, and restrictions on church attendance, the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has left millions without work.
The country has also faced three strong typhoons over the past few weeks, including Vamco, which killed at least 67 people as well as causing devastating flooding on the country’s largest island of Luzon.
Some are torn over whether to put up their decor or tone down celebrations given the difficulties facing the country, said Ambeth Ocampo, a professor at Ateneo de Manila University.
For others, this year’s challenges make it especially important to celebrate Christmas, even if the usual shopping sprees and parties are not possible.
“We are still thankful because our family is complete. As long as we are together we’re OK,” said Nancy Endeno, a Metro Manila resident.
“Our Christmas tree is up. I’m here to buy additional decorations,” she said, as she haggled with other shoppers at a store selling parols — a traditional, and pricey, Philippine Christmas lantern.
Sato Laxa, who runs a shop in Manila, sold 10 lanterns on Saturday afternoon last week. Sales are not as good as previous years, but he is happy to be selling at all, Laxa said.
“We started getting buyers in September, although we weren’t selling much,” he said. “Sales have been very good lately.”
Shoppers can pay anything from 3,000 pesos to 9,000 pesos (US$62 to US$186) for the multi-colored lanterns.
It is not clear why Christmas celebrations start so early in the Philippines, and it has not always been this way, Ocampo said.
“Traditionally, Christmas started with the nine-day Misa de Gallo — literally ‘Rooster Mass,’” he said, referring to nine dawn masses leading to Christmas.
“There is no cultural or religious reason for the long Christmas,” Ocampo said, adding that it might be a commercial ploy to encourage people to begin their shopping early.
Others say that the extended festivities are unsurprising given Filipinos’ love of celebrations — there are 19 public holidays this year and a fiesta for each of its 146 cities and 1,488 municipalities.
The Christmas season traditionally ends on Jan. 6 with the feast of Three Kings, “but some people extend beyond that to Chinese New Year or even Valentine’s to keep the decor up and keep a festive mood,” Ocampo said.
Laxa is optimistic that people will still find a way to celebrate over the coming months.
“Problems do not stop Filipinos from celebrating Christmas,” he said. “Be it a pandemic or typhoons, we manage to recover.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese