CITY of San Fernando officials, led by Mayor Edwin Santiago, asserted that the renowned lantern-making industry in the city continues to flourish amid claims that it is “slowly dying.”
During a recent press conference, Santiago refuted the reports circulating that the city’s traditional lantern is vanishing due to innovations happening in the Philippine lantern industry.
Santiago said that the traditional “Parul Sampernandu” continues to shine in the city’s lantern market but admitted that it has faced several innovations to adapt to the demands of local and global arena.
The original “Parul Sampernandu” uses incandescent bulbs and covered with colored plastic or Japanese paper and capiz. It has four key elements namely tambur (circular center), siku-siku (star-like inner circle), palibunbun (design enclosing the tambur and siku-siku), and puntetas (the outer circle).
“The success and growth of our lantern industry is never debatable. We are not only recognized here in the Philippines, but also in several countries who commissioned our local craftsmen. And just like any other product, we also need to develop our lantern to better serve our clienteles,” he said.
Santiago added that innovation is essential not only to cater to market demands, but to preserve its participation and significance in the colorful Christmas culture of Pampanga and the whole of the Philippines.
However, Santiago also noted that the City Government still promotes the traditional lanterns by showcasing them as main decorations in the city hall and major thoroughfares like Jose Abad Santos Avenue.
He added that the annual Giant Lantern Festival (GLF) held every December is the biggest single promotional event of San Fernando’s lantern industry that draws around 50,000 local and foreign tourists.
Until now, the giant lanterns showcased in the festival still follow the traditional design of lantern and utilize rotors to perform the sequences of every lantern, he said.
Santiago also said that the Association of South East Asian Nation-commissioned lanterns lighted up by 76 local governments around the Philippines made by famous Fernandino lantern makers proudly showcased the original “Parul Sampernandu.”
“How can we say that it is dying or fading away if it still and continues to conquer the local and international market? Our traditional lanterns are part of our culture and heritage and we are bound to preserve it in any way we can,” he said.
City Tourism Officer Ching Pangilinan, for her part, stressed that the city’s lantern industry is more alive than ever with more places, both here and abroad, patronizing and imitating the local craft.
She said that the lantern industry of San Fernando is not limited to the GLF alone, but has become a year-round business of local craftsmen who cater to household orders and industrial contracts.
“Our traditional lanterns did not only grow but also gave birth to the light industry which uses LED and rope lights as decorative lanterns and now have a wide variety of designs,” she said.
“To say that it is a dying tradition, I don’t think that it will ever happen as long as there is the City Government, the Giant Lantern Foundation, our private sector partners and our talented lantern makers who do their best to promote the tradition because the lantern industry is in the heart and soul of San Fernando and we will never be called the Christmas Capital of the country without it,” she said.
The GLF headed by its President Alfrito Mah also affirmed the statements of the city officials and stressed that the private sector will continue to provide its strong support to the industry.
“The foundation still and will continue to conduct lantern making seminars to sustain the craft and pass it to the next generation who will continue and hopefully, develop our local lanterns,” he said.