3 giant lanterns to shine in Leni-Kiko rally in Pampanga

Three pink giant lanterns will be featured in the campaign rally on April 9 of Vice President Leni Robredo, presidential candidate, and her running mate, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, in this Pampanga capital.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Three pink giant lanterns will be featured in the campaign rally on April 9 of Vice President Leni Robredo, presidential candidate, and her running mate, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, in this Pampanga capital.

“To us Kapampangans, the paruls signify hope and light like Leni and Kiko,” said Fr. Eddie Panlilio, former Pampanga governor and chair of the Robredo-Pangilinan People’s Council in the province, in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Called Ligligan Parul and has religious beginnings, the annual lantern festival is almost 100 years old.

The giant lanterns will replicate a Bible account in which a star shone brightly in Bethlehem when Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago.

The father-and-son tandem of Arnel and Mark Niño Flores and Byron Bondoc—who topped the 2021 exhibit—are constructing the lanterns.

Each one is 20 feet in diameter and fitted with a minimum of 3,000 light bulbs, said Mark Niño, the youngest lantern craftsman at 27, in a separate interview.

One lantern has a pink rose at the center, with the words “Kulay Rosas ang Bukas” (The Future is Pink), referring to the slogan of the only female presidential candidate.

Another bears “Leni-Kiko 2022.” The features of the third lantern are kept secret.

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