JESSICA Logronio, 37, caps her day by bringing her two children for a walk around the public plaza, basking in the vibrant Christmas lights and decorations that adorned and illuminated the streets of Palo town in Leyte province.
After savoring the joyful atmosphere that captures the merriment of the holiday season during their stroll, Logronio would order barbeque and other food being sold at the colorful food stalls in the town’s square for an evening dinner with her family, as Christmas carols are also played in the background.
A stone-throw away from the public plaza, the palling of bells can be heard for the evening mass at the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral, where Pope Francis visited and offered a prayer on January 17, 2015, for the victims of the Super Typhoon Yolanda that leveled the town on November 8, 2013.
As the local government of Palo officially reopened its traditional “Christmas Village” at the town’s plaza to serve as a communal place to celebrate the Christmas season, Logronio was also inspired to put up some colorful lights and decorations at her home, albeit “minimal,” as a way of celebrating the joyous occasion.
“Personally, the ‘Christmas Village’ has become a very significant Christmas tradition for most Paloanons, the lights and decorations have undeniably lifted spirits,” says Logronio.
On December 14, 2023, Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla led the ceremonial lighting of the “Christmas Village” to signal the reopening of this year’s “Pasko ha Palo (Christmas in Palo)” festivities.
“The Christmas in Palo stands as an enduring annual tradition, meticulously curated and passionately upheld by Mayor Remedios Petilla,” the local government says in a statement during the launching program.
“The Christmas in Palo is rooted in a vision of community unity and festive joy. This cherished celebration has become a symbol of Palo’s dynamic character,” it adds.
“Let’s make this holiday season unforgettable together,” the mayor says during the event.
Some of the Christmas scenes and attractions that were opened to the public to enjoy include the Palo Pag Ibig Plaza, Christmas Tunnel, Purisima Bridge, Luntad Christmas Village, Saboren Christmas Fantasy House, Palo Public Market, Belen, Bangon River Bridge, Barbeque Plaza, Christmas Tellis, Enchanting Palo Livelihood, and Tourism Information Center, among others.
Palo, a third-class municipality with a population of over 76,000 in its 33 villages, is the most populous municipality in Leyte.
A tradition that completes Christmas season
Karen Tiopes, director of Department of Tourism (DOT)-Eastern Visayas, says that visiting the “Christmas Village” in Palo has been a tradition that completes the Christmas season for the people of Leyte.
“Truly, its return after the pandemic brightens up our celebration of the birth of Christ and bring cheers to many,” Tiopes told Sunstar Philippines.
“Christmas is the time of year which evokes much emotions. It’s a time for happy gatherings with family, friends and workmates. It’s a time of sharing and exchanging gifts that comes from the heart. Yet for those who are far from home, it’s also a time when we miss our dear ones and also those who are no longer with us,” she says.
Whatever the emotions are this season, Tiopes maintains that “the festive air around us never fails to make us smile and bring warmth to our hearts.”
For Roben Mathew Monteza, a 24-year-old resident of Palo, seeing the lights and decorations of the “Christmas Village” also brightens up the day of those coming home from work.
“I just don’t know, but every time I see the Christmas lights, the attractions [of the Christmas Village], you would feel a certain kind of emotion. I am brought back again to my childhood memories,” says Monteza, who works at a local radio station in the nearby Tacloban City.
Magic at the Saboren Christmas Fantasy House
At Barangay Luntad Christmas Village, locals and visitors are also drawn to the myriad of Christmas toys, lights, collections, and holiday memorabilia displayed inside the private residence of the Saboren family.
In 1991, the Saboren family opened their private Christmas collections and called it Saboren Christmas Fantasy House.
The family said they wanted to share the spirt of Christmas that they also experienced.
The collections were coming from a family member based in the United States, who would send various Christmas items to their home in Palo since the 1980s.
The Saboren Christmas Fantasy House was temporarily closed after typhoon Yolanda’s devastation and reopened in 2016. Three years after the pandemic, the Saboren Christmas Fantasy House opened its doors again to the public.
Hanzel Saboren wrote on her social media account, inviting everyone “for a joyful experience” at their place as they reopened on December 14.
“Consider adding a visit to our Christmas house to your holiday traditions,” she says on Facebook.
As visitors crowded Saboren's Christmas house, Logronio even found a hard time bringing her two children inside the place.
“There is always a queue. And my kids don’t have enough patience to queue,” says Logronio, smilingly.
Sing for the Lord
The Rah Rah Rousers, a renowned singing group in Palo, becomes a regular feature at the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral during the Christmas festivities.
“The RahRah Rousers sings regularly during Sundays in the parish. One of them choirs in one of the masses either in the morning or in the evening. Definitely they are part of the grand choir of the cathedral,” said Archdiocese of Palo vicar-general Monsignor Gilbert Urbina in a report from Catholic news site UCA News.
Fidelino Josol, 55, a member of the singing group, says that he is happy being part of the choir in the service of the church.
“Spiritually, whenever we sing in Church, I feel proud knowing that I am praising God twice, alluding to Saint Augustine's ‘Qui Bene Cantat, Bis Orat (He who sings well, prays twice),’” Josol says.
Something to look forward
“For the coming Christmas, we add decorations like Christmas lights, stockings, and a Christmas tree in our home so we would feel the spirit of Christmas, and of course so that our Christmas experience will be colorful,” says Samantha Caño.
The Christmas lights, the native food sold at the stalls, and the Christmas caroling during evenings are some of the things being looked forward to by children, like Caño.
Despite already being a sophomore student at a local high school, Caño still loves to hang stockings on their Christmas tree.
“I know my mother would fill the stockings with chocolates,” she says, smilingly.
Together with her classmates and friends, Caño would go around the neighborhood for the traditional caroling.
“Some people would give us money, but most of the time we do it just for fun,” she says.
Caño proudly says the biggest token they got for the evening caroling was P130.
They used the money to buy chocolates.
When the multi-colored lights are switched on at the public plaza, Caño and her friends would go there to snap some photos.
“Every year my family and I always get gifts for friends and relatives, including the people close to us. We also tend to let the little kids light and choose the ornaments they want to put on the Christmas tree, then we would take photos for memories and for them to look forward to when they grow up,” Ariane Zielle Advincula, 13, tells about her excitement of the coming Christmas Eve gathering at their home in Palo.
“Since I was a kid, the thrill of opening gifts is literally my favorite thing when it is the Christmas season. Then I would always try to guess what its content is,” she adds, enthusiastically.
Advincula also looks forward to having her favorite Christmas dishes this year.
“I cannot ever forget about the food! Filipinos are known for their love for Christmas and it truly shows through their dedication to cooking, to the point that my uncles work together to make a dish,” she says.
“My family loves beef, so there is always a beef steak. Sisig (chopped pork, onions, and chillies) and bicol express (a spicy Filipino stew) are my absolute favorite. I hope that this year, my aunts will cook carbonara for us,” Advincula adds.
For this year’s Christmas celebration, Chad Ellanz Peque and his family put up their Christmas tree and other decorations that are still intact at their home.
“We also placed a ‘Belen’ at the altar, a beloved tradition by my family usually done on the 15th of December. We also started shopping for gifts to give to our Manito and Manita,” says Peque, another high school student in the town.
“I am excited about everything, the lights, the music, and the overall comforting and joyful atmosphere that Christmas brings to the world. Christmas sets me in a good mood compared to the rest of the year” he adds.
Peque says he is excited about Christmas “because everything becomes brighter.”
“The gentle twinkle of fairy lights accompanied by the speakers playing music and broadcasting the Misa de Gallo at the Cathedral makes everything around me seem like a dream,” Peque told Sunstar Philippines.
For Karen Noveda, they are also busy in their small household, putting out a few lights and decorations “so that we can feel a bit of the Christmas spirit.”
“Even so, I think this small effort still unites us with the community’s Christmas celebration,” says the 23-year-old resident of Palo.
“What I always look forward to this Christmas are the delicious food and most importantly spending quality time with family and relatives as we put away our gadgets and invest more in catching up and having meaningful conversations,” she says.
Meanwhile, Monteza says he is excited to return the favor for the sacrifices of his parents as they are preparing for the holiday.
“Before, it was my parents who would manage the Christmas expenses at home. Now that I already have a work, at least I can contribute to the food, gifts, and candies to be given on Christmas day,” he says.