CBCP: Let’s revive ‘panunuluyan’ songs

Annoyed with kids pestering your household with western Christmas carols sung out of tune and with mangled lyrics?

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, director of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) media office, on Thursday urged carolers to revive the Filipino tradition of the panunuluyan, or the singing of Bible verses recounting the Holy Family’s search for a room in Bethlehem.

Quitorio cited two reasons for reviving the panunuluyan: It is in tune with the real spiritual meaning of Christmas, and the households being serenaded also get to participate by singing the refrain.

“Personally, I will encourage this because it’s catechetical [or conforming to church instruction],” he said in an interview. “There is a lesson with the review of [Jesus’] infancy narrative when the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph endured rejection when they looked for a house to stay in Bethlehem.”

Quitorio said the practice had now been largely abandoned in urban areas like Metro Manila but was still widespread in the provinces.

“Each province has its own version of this, and it is sung in the native dialect. It’s really wonderful. In our place in Samar, we call it ‘panarit’ and I have even recorded it on video,” he said.

Beginning Dec. 16

According to Quitorio, panarit carolers go around their neighborhoods starting on the night of December 16, which is also the start of the “Simbang Gabi,” or the traditional dawn Masses that culminate on Christmas Eve.

“They recount the infancy narrative found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. They come in groups or individually,” he said.

The carolers need not wear costumes and they sometimes even sing a capella, or without the accompaniment of a musical instrument, Quitorio said.

There are also two versions of the traditional panarit song—one lasting for three minutes and another lasting two minutes longer.

“Sometimes they use modern tunes, mellow pop tunes that are apt for the Bible verses. Sometimes it’s just an individual caroler singing, but mostly they are groups of adults or children,” Quitorio said.

What’s peculiar about this practice is that the household being serenaded also gets to join the singing.

“There are two instances—during the refrain—when the owner of the house gets to answer, so there’s audience participation,” Quitorio said.

“When I was in high school, my brother and I would answer and the carolers would get confused because we’d answer in a different tune,” he recalled.

‘Wonderful tradition’

Quitorio said P5 was usually given to each group of carolers. He said they were sometimes told to come back on the night of December 23, or on Christmas Eve, if the house owner was not in a charitable mood.

But come Christmas Eve, households are expected to be generous, and panarit carolers start going from house to house right after sundown on December 24, he said.

“On Christmas Eve, we’d get 100 individuals or groups of carolers. If a house is known for giving a large amount, you’d see four groups lining up,” Quitorio said.

“They would come carrying candles or sulo (torches). It’s really a wonderful tradition that we should revive and encourage,” he said.