With bright and colorful lights illuminating the Ortigas skyline, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) heralds the Yuletide season with the comeback of its iconic Liwanag Park, ushering in Filipino Christmas in the new normal.

A holiday staple in Metro Manila, the Meralco Liwanag Park features an array of sustainable bright Christmas ornaments such as a gigantic Belen, the traditional parol, and lights of all shapes and sizes.

The park, which formally opened last Friday, 24 November, has opened its door to the public starting 26 November.

It will be open daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.

Meralco chairman and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan, or MVP, who led the lighting ceremony, hailed the return of the Liwanag Park as a symbol of hope.

"In all the Christmas activities that I attend each year, the opening of Meralco's Liwanag Park is the most meaningful for me because the Liwanag Park offers hope," MVP said during the lighting ceremony.

For years, Meralco's Liwanag Park has become a place where many families visit, as it also illuminates the Ortigas Center in Pasig City, home to the Meralco head office.

According to MVP,  Meralco's robust performance serves as an inspiration for the company to give back to the communities it serves not only this Christmas but in every chance it gets.

Through its corporate social development arm One Meralco Foundation, the distribution utility continuously embodies the value of "malasakit" with programs that benefit underserved communities within and outside of its franchise area.

To further mark the comeback of Meralco's Liwanag Park, OMF led efforts to spread the light as it recently provided support to a coffee farming community in Bukidnon under its Project Liwanag PH program.

OMF energized using solar power the coffee processing machine of the community, enabling their production capacity to multiply tenfold.

The timely initiative forms part of the broad electrification program of OMF that also covers schools, health centers, and agricultural and livelihood programs in off-grid and remote areas.

These initiatives are a testament to Meralco's commitment to sharing the light as an active nation-building partner of the government.

Beyond physically illuminating the homes of Filipinos, Meralco continuously spreads the light with programs and projects that aim to help underserved communities and propel the country to further growth.

For the country's largest distribution utility, spreading hope is best embodied through the work that the reliable men and women of Meralco
do — bringing light to where it is most needed.

For a company whose service to the Filipino people has gone beyond a century, Liwanag Park symbolizes Meralco's committment to truly be a beacon of light in the years to come.