CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Under a pitch-dark sky and amid light rains, 10 lanterns, as tall as two-story houses, “performed” before spectators in a festival that Catholic craftsmen began in this Pampanga capital 103 years ago.
The audience, noticeably with more foreigners this time, admired the giant lanterns, letting out cheers and applause as the entries of the villages of Telabastagan, Calulut, San Juan, Dolores, San Pedro, Sta. Lucia, Del Carmen, Del Pilar, San Jose and Sto. Niño played one after the other.
With their bulbs lighting to the beat of music chosen by their makers, each lantern displayed a myriad of colorful designs that changed or came in complete form in just five minutes.
This unique spectacle of lights originated from a tradition meant to approximate the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men in their search for the Child Jesus more than 2,000 years ago, according to older Kapampangans.
San Fernando was carved out of Bacolor, the capital of Pampanga, the first province created by the Spanish colonial government and one of the seats of the Augustinian order.
The true showdown began in the second round of performances where the lanterns were displayed in a set of three or four to a medley of Christmas music chosen by a festival committee.
In the third and final round, the 10 lanterns performed together, creating an almost magical sight on a starless Saturday night.
In the history of lantern-making in San Fernando, only the martial rule imposed by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos stopped the festival in 1978 and 1979.
Fernandinos love this festival so much that even Mt. Pinatubo’s deadly eruptions in June 1991 failed to stop them from holding the event in December that year.
The 10 judges—among them urban planner Felino Palafox Jr., filmmaker Brillante Mendoza, National Artist Benedicto Cabrera and playwright Chris Millado—chose the lantern of Sta. Lucia as the grandest of all, giving it a second straight championship.
The entries of San Jose and Del Carmen bagged the second and third places, respectively.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr., who watched the show behind the judges’ seats, described the spectacle as amazing.
Alfrito Mah, festival committee chairman, said the crowd at the main event center of the Robinsons Starmills dwindled to between 5,000 and 6,000 during the first burst of rainfall. But people started to return later and the crowd reached about 10,000.
Police estimated the visitors to have reached 5,000, a far cry from past events where the festival drew between 20,000 and 30,000 people.
But performing under light rain damaged the lanterns’ rotors, said Eric Quiwa, who made the winning lantern.
Rotors are aluminum barrels of various sizes. Connected to the electricity source, rotors are fitted with hair pins linked to cables connected to light bulbs. Moving the rotors through a car wheel determines which light bulbs go on and off.
Exposed to rain and with cables overheated, rotors linked to 3,000 light bulbs of Sta. Lucia were busted, unable to play anymore after the competition and during the grand fireworks display.
The tradition of making giant lanterns, started by Francisco Estanislao in 1908, is sustained by subsidies from the city government and donations from the private sector.
The villages received P102,000 each this year, with village officials gathering financial aid from residents and sponsors. It used to be that the novena (lubenas) before Christmas were accompanied by handheld lanterns.
Over the years, these lanterns got bigger, using electricity when San Fernando Electric Light and Power Co. operated in 1937.
Severino David, son-in-law of Estanislao, introduced battery-operated giant lanterns.
Mario Datu and Susing Manalang used molded steel wire as frame in 1950. From a simple control board, the rotor system was developed by Rodolfo David in 1957.