Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

It’s 4 days past Christmas as of this writing. And I felt very wistful of a time long past that I took for granted but is now diminished like a fading lightbulb: the prominence of Filipino Christmas decorations at homes.

2 days ago, I decided to go to Pasig to have my ATM card replaced and maybe do some mall touring to buy stuff. I booked a Grab driver to take me to the mall as taking the capital region’s traffic using public transport wasn’t to my liking that day. From talking with the driver, he was a former overseas worker that parlayed some of his savings to buy his own car. And he was the “good chatty” kind of driver. Had good things to start conversations with. Not much of the political type. From his dashboard’s stickers, he was an INC guy, but he seems to be raised Catholic by the way he talked about the holidays.

Then he asked me one question as we were doing 20 on the way – “ramdam mo ba na nagpasko ngayon?” (did you have the Christmas feeling this season?)

The question was like a jolt of reality to me. I answered blithely, “a bit”, just to keep a conversation going for him instead of my actual thoughts taking over and driving the conversation myself. He did went on about families starting to ditch Christmas lights and decorations and instead put all the budget on internal things like the midnight feast and gifts, while my eyes were focused on outside the car, looking at houses. And in my mind, lots of things were getting surfaced. And the most damning of all – when did I not notice it anymore? We did eventually shift the conversation to some surface-level economics and traffic management, but by the time he dropped me off the mall and I was having lunch there, I kind of felt very sad about it. I was not able to fully enjoy my meal as my earlier realization was driven home by where I was – a mall fully decked to the gills with Christmas decors, cheery songs everywhere, and a big-ass Christmas tree at the mall lobby.

It’s sad, but ultimately understandable, even pitiable. The majority of the population living near the minimum wage couldn’t spare anymore money for ephemeral things like Christmas decorations. But for me, it was a cheering thing that people had done then. They were small symbols of hope to me, lighting ways, hoping that the next year be kinder to them. It spreads cheer not just inside, but outside as well. People do feel some small holiday cheer when they see their neighbors have lights and decor on.

When I went back home in a taxi, my eyes were outside the car, looking at my neighbors’ homes. Some still had decors. But for some, there were telltale signs that those decors were left for the entire year. And some still did leave on nice lanterns and lights and decor outside for everyone to see. But a lot of homes opted not to.

Back when I was working in the Philippines, people still gave a big shit about Christmas decorations. One of my high school projects was to make a full parol (a Christmas decor shaped like a star) with lights. I got used to knowing when the Christmas season started, not by keeping an ear out for Jose Mari Chan songs, but by observing which houses started putting up Christmas decors and lights. Occasionally my parents would rope me in to help with putting up Christmas lights outside our gate, and dusting off the cobwebs off the big Christmas wreaths my mom kept in the attic and displaying it outside our door. Mom would also take out the small Christmas tree she keeps, reassemble it, and festoon it with the things one expects to see there, baubles and all. Even the poorest sometimes cobble up whatever they could scrounge up and put a “Merry Christmas” sign outside their door. News outlets sometimes cover Christmas decorations in the city and people were more than happy to show off what they have mustered to put up.

And I looked outside of the car that day while the driver talked for a bit. I was able to spot one or two houses with minimal Christmas decorations, otherwise the houses all looked like what they’d look like for the entire year. Even businesses stopped putting up decor.

The malls still had Christmas decors inside and outside. They definitely needed those to attract people in. And they laid it on thick. They might be of the thinking that they can’t afford NOT to put up good decors. Sale season, need to put up the eye candy.

I assumed the rich folks in the posher subdivisions and gated communities still adhered to that same yearly tradition of decorations. They’re rich and eager to peacock around their fortune. I assumed that the provincial folks probably still adhered to that as well, as I asked a friend in Pampanga to check and he confirmed most houses did put up decors. It’s only the nitty-gritty of the capital region (I think) that seems to have forsaken outside appearances for the things they held dearer – food and family. Even my own family here didn’t bother much with outside decorations. Only the sala had at least a semblance of “oh, it’s Christmas” with the meagre decors and boxed gifts.

The next thought then came in – oh, it might be a pandemic casualty. We’re just a year removed from the year we had mass availability of vaccines. Many people lost jobs, budgets got tighter, there’s hope but it’s still slower here than anticipated. Many people still struggle to get back on their feet. Many probably celebrated Christmas for the past three years with hopes of a better year, of which only came much, much later. And all under a government more focused on number crunching than actual tangibles (and intelligence funds) than what the Filipinos truly need at this time.

And with those factors, I understood them, painfully. Christmas decors are an expense. Inside those homes with no decors outside, a family might be heartily celebrating Christmas their own way, with food and company. Outside they might not have shown it, but inside, I truly hope, the strong Filipino Christmas was still inside, merrily exchanging food and drink with one and all.

I’ve spent six years in Singapore. I’ve only gone home for Christmas for two of them. Maybe that’s why it took me this long to notice the change. Me working overseas spared me that thought for a while. And now, it got driven home. That much has changed.

Maybe one day, when people finally find the means again to afford, those decors might show up again in many a home in the capital region. I hope so, someday. To me, at least, they were something of a community benefit for the people around them. It helps spread that “cheer” around instead of keeping it all to yourself. You see your neighbors doing well for themselves. It’s a beacon of light at night as well, cheerful lighting that beckons many an eye to see. And to me, they’re symbols of outward happiness and hope that is to be shared to many an onlooker.

One day, I hope to see them again in homes. Someday, “ramdam ulit ang pasko” (we feel it’s Christmas again).