New rules for carolers in Los Baños

Christmas caroling is allowed only until 10 p.m. in a university community in Los Baños, Laguna province, and carolers must secure a permit under a set of regulations imposed by village officials and meant to stop turning the holiday tradition into a moneymaking scheme.

In Barangay (village) Batong Malake, the village surrounding the University of the Philippines Los Baños, students and church or civic groups organizing nightly door-to-door caroling were asked to submit to the village officials a letter listing the households they planned to visit.

“We’ve received complaints before from the homeowners about carolers visiting them even in the wee hours,” said village chief Janos Lapiz. He said there were also instances in the past wherein carolers stoned houses when its owners refused to welcome them.

Groups caroling to raise funds for civic projects were also asked to submit an after-

activity report to the village.

Although the activity has become part of the holiday tradition, Lapiz observed how some parents took advantage of it by sending off their children to solicit money or beg for alms. Batong Malake has an existing ordinance against the giving of alms to street children.

“Children appear more pitiful,” he said, but “are more at risk when out in the streets, especially at night,” Lapiz said in a phone interview on Sunday.

The caroling regulation was received with mixed reaction, with some people saying it dampened the Christmas spirit and the tradition of sharing. “But the Christmas spirit doesn’t mean we have to stop enforcing the laws,” Lapiz said.