Pampanga’s ‘parol’ goes global
By Tonette
Orejas
Inquirer Central Luzon
Sunday, November 11th, 2012
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Ornamental Christmas lanterns in various shapes and
sizes handcrafted in this Pampanga capital have gone global, having been shipped
out to many Filipino communities abroad for the Christmas season.
The “Sampernandu parul” (as old folks still call the San Fernando lanterns)
has brought its warm glow of lights overseas “to strengthen our Christmas
tradition,” according to Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
“It’s one of their (Filipino communities) connections back home. It reminds
them of their families and our country while they work overseas,” Rodriguez
said.
In Spanish colonial times, lantern making began in Bacolor, the Athens of
Pampanga, a town from which San Fernando was founded. Bacolor was then the
capital town of Pampanga, as well as of the entire Philippines under Spanish
control.
The faithful lit candles encased in paper lanterns to illuminate the
religious processions in this part of Pampanga, which was the seat of
Augustinian missions in Central Luzon.
In 1908, salt vendor Francisco Estanislao of Barangay Sta. Lucia at the
border of Bacolor shaped a big lantern out of bamboo and coco cloth for the
Christmas dawn Masses.
Since then, the lanterns have evolved in design, lighting technique, size and
materials and have also spurred household-based enterprises.
Since the first lantern competition in 1931, held to honor First Lady Aurora
Quezon, the city government has vigorously promoted the lanterns for other
objectives.
“For foreigners to know our city for tourism purposes, to showcase our
products, to help our parul makers in finding a market and to show the special
skills and talent of our people,” Rodriguez said.
Regular partners in the undertakings are associations of Filipinos, many of
them Kapampangans, and embassies or consulates.
Honolulu fest
In December, Filipinos in Honolulu, Hawaii, are holding their first lantern
festival.
According to San Fernando tourism officer Ching Pangilinan-Gonzales, the city
government is shipping to Hawaii a giant lantern and bringing in craftsmen who
will share the basics of lantern making.
The city government also sent out the first set of lanterns to the Philippine
Embassy in Poland, she said.
Two giant lanterns will be displayed at the Cathedral of Good Shepherd in
Singapore. The traditional beacons will also grace the Philippine embassies in
Singapore, Moscow in Russia and Ottawa, Canada.
Pampanga’s pride embellished the Philippine embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, in
2011 just as they did the new Philippine Embassy in Dublin, Ireland; the
consulate in Beijing, China; and the Ethnology Museum in Vienna, Austria, in
2010.
In 2009, the Philippine consulate in New York and the Lord Mayor’s House in
Dublin decorated the premises with lanterns.
In 2007, they enhanced the Christmas tree that Filipinos put up on the Vienna
City Hall grounds in Austria.
In 2006, they were exhibited to commemorate the centennial of Filipino
migration to Hawaii and the 60th anniversary of Philippine-Austrian diplomatic
relations.
The first documented overseas display of Pampanga’s giant lanterns was in
1979 for the 75th anniversary of the Philippine-Hawaii Commission that year.
In 1989, a giant lantern flickered to delight audiences at the Kunitchiwa
Asian Fair in Yokohama, Japan.
In 1992, or just a year after the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo, 40 kilometers
west of Pampanga, a giant lantern was exhibited at the World Expo in Seville,
Spain.
In 1993, a float that featured a giant lantern made in San Fernando won first
place in the Hollywood Christmas parade.
In 2003, former Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon sent a giant lantern to the
Taiwan International Lantern Festival in Taipei.
In 2005, the city joined the 3rd Annual Parol Lantern Parade organized by
Filipino-American Development Foundation in California.
Popular craftsmen
Pampanga lanterns also adorned various international exhibits, competitions
or contracts undertaken by popular lantern makers like Roland Quiambao and Eric
Quiwa.
Quiwa, 40, a descendant of pioneer lantern maker Estanislao, exhibited
household and giant lanterns in Seville in 1990, San Diego in California in
1993, Taipei and Hollywood in California in 1995, Dubai in 2008 and 2009, and
Hawaii and Singapore this year.
The Cultural Center of the Philippines has also displayed them on its facade
since 2011.
Craftsmen in San Fernando helped evolve the traditional lanterns.
From the “papel de japon” (rice paper), the lanterns were soon wrapped in
sheets made of capiz (flattened white sea shells), plastic vinyl, handmade paper
composed of grass and in the last four years, fiberglass.
From the original candle, the lantern used light bulbs powered by batteries,
an initiative of Severino David, son-in-law of Estanislao, in the 1940s.
The bulbs allowed the operators of giant lanterns to switch the lights on and
off, in sync with the music played by a brass band.
Mario Datu and Susing Manalang introduced the use of molded steel as the
frames of Pampanga lanterns in 1950, replacing the bamboo and wood.
The addition of a rotary motor in 1957 improved the course of illuminating
lanterns, by giving out the illusion of dancing lights and shadows. The rotor is
credited to David’s son, Rodolfo.
By the 1970s, the small lanterns provided “dancing lights” through
sequencers, which were appropriately attuned to international safety
regulations, and which opened the opportunity for Pampanga lanterns to be
exported.
Village beacon
The “ligligan parul” (lantern festival) has been sustained through
“bayanihan” (volunteerism). Residents of a village contribute money, materials
and food so their community can construct a fresh lantern and join a local
contest.
The tourism ministry supported the festival for the first time in 1975.
No festival was held in 1978 and 1979 because then Mayor Armando Biliwang
canceled the event due to martial rule.
Gov. Estelito Mendoza revived the festival in 1980. Mayor Vicente Macalino
standardized the size of giant lanterns to a ceiling of 3 meters (at present,
authorities allow lanterns to loom as large as 5.4 m in diameter) and began the
policy of providing subsidies of up to P5,000 in 1982.
Held on Dec. 22, 1990, the festival was highlighted by two lanterns
participating in the event, one of which was shaped by Ernesto Quiwa, a grandson
of Estanislao.
In 2007, the subsidies were increased to P125,000, but lantern makers said
that represented only a quarter of the P500,000 needed to make an outstanding
lantern.
The first lanterns were exported in 1987 during the term of Mayor Virgilio
Sanchez.
Robert David, another grandson of Estanislao, made lanterns to adorn the
roofs of the Paskuhan Village and the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center, both in
San Fernando.
David also attempted to set a world record but failed to build a 31.5-m-tall
lantern in 2002.
Tourist attraction
The lanterns are a Hall of Fame titlist in the Department of Trade and
Industry’s One-Town One-Product (OTOP) program.
The festival draws foreign and local dignitaries as well as tourists. In
2007, Nileema Noble, United Nations resident coordinator in the Philippines,
said: “Magnificent! The efforts here to preserve heritage and tradition are
flourishing.”
There is no school that trains for the craft of lantern making,
Pampanga-style.
Edwin David Jr., 29, learned by “albe-albe” (watching) or “ilig” (preference)
or “tuki-tuki” (tagging along).
Fifth-generation lantern makers like Eric Quiwa are convinced that the rotor
cannot be replaced by computers. “It really gives the lanterns the magical
effect of dancing lights,” he said.
Computers are only used to design the lanterns, Eric added. His 19-year-old
son, Carl Ernesto, and his 15-year-old nephew, Christian Lervin, have been
learning the craft by observing, helping out and running errands.
In this year’s festival on Dec. 15 at the Robinsons Starmills in San
Fernando, Eric expects to win the best lantern—his third in a row.
