IT DOESN’T really feel like Christmas to most Filipinos until we see colored lanterns hanging in the windows of houses or from posts along city streets.

That belief is why Ronald Timbol, owner of Kislap Tala, has come all the way from Pampanga to market what he describes as the best of Pampanga’s lanterns to Cebuanos.

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“We don’t want Cebuanos to experience a hard time going to Pampanga just to purchase these lanterns so we thought of coming to Cebu instead,” Timbol said.

Timbol and two employees arrived in Cebu last Oct. 25 so they could start selling lanterns and taking corporate orders for the holidays.

They have regularly visited Cebu for nine years now and have roughly invested about P250,000 to P280,000 each time they come to Cebu.

Natural

Kislap Tala produces high-quality handmade lanterns made from the natural and eco-friendly capiz or oyster shells; the lantern prices range from P1,800 to P4,200, depending on the size.

“We now occupy a small space along the streets of Mambaling, Cebu City, so people heading to the south will immediately recognize our handmade lanterns,” Timbol said.

The group requested for a permit to operate the business for two months from the city government.

During their visit last year, Timbol shared that they earned P600,000 gross. “Pero pahirapan talaga (But we had a difficult time),” he said. Most buyers asked for bigger discounts, when in fact we are already gave them the best price, he added.

“That was at the height of the global financial crisis, so people were a bit hesitant to spend so much for the holidays,” he said. People opted to spend more on food rather than Christmas decorations.

There were days when there were no sales at all. But he is glad that the group managed to sell five to six lanterns each day since their arrival this year, he added.

“Medyo galante na ang mga tao ngayon (People are more willing to spend now),” he said.

He anticipated a decline in lantern sales in Pampanga this year after typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, Ramil and Santi hit the Luzon area one after the other since late September.

“Most of our customers are from Manila, so I doubt if they’d still spend more on Christmas decorations. They’ll probably allot the money for rebuilding their homes instead,” he said.

Aside from the local buyers, Kislap Tala also exports the products to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and parts of the United States.

Last year, they exported 200 Christmas lanterns.