Culture

There is no Filipino gathering, big or small, where food does not play a starring role.  Whether it is held in a restaurant or at home, the host makes sure that the guests are warmly welcomed, well entertained and generously served with carefully selected dishes to suit the occasion. Guests are treated like family when they come to our homes. This is why Filipinos are known for their hospitality.

Traditionally, Filipinos observe a number of occasions throughout the year that entails certain rites and the serving of particular types of food. Even Filipinos abroad follow some of these traditions as the older folks remember and pass them on to younger generations.

Filipinos so love Christmas that it has now become customary throughout the land to start celebrating it in September when the rainy season has ended and there’s a bit of chill in the air.

When I was growing up in the Philippines, our family did not have a Christmas tree during the holidays. What we always had on our windows were home-made brightly lit star-shape Christmas lanterns called parol from the Spanish word for lamp, farol. They represent the Star of Bethlehem which led the Magi to the Infant. But the centrepiece of our Christmas decoration was the Christmas Belen.