Pampanga, UNESCO save lantern tradition

The UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines and local Pampanga stakeholders are collaborating to preserve the province’s Christmas lantern-making tradition.

A stakeholders’ consultation and workshop on safeguarding the Christmas lantern tradition was organized by the Arts, Culture & Tourism Office of Pampanga (ACTOP) at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall.

The workshop was led by Board Member Winwin Garbo, ACTOP head Mike Castañeda, and Dr. Ivan Henares, secretary general of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines.

Also in attendance were tourism officers, parol makers, educational institution representatives, and researchers, all committed to preserving Pampanga’s renowned parol.

Known as the country’s Christmas capital, Pampanga has a long history of parol making dating back to the 1800s, when traditional Lubenas processions began. These processions featured a giant, intricately designed lantern that became the prototype for the Giant Lantern of Pampanga.

In 1933, a giant lantern from Barangay Del Pilar was reputedly modeled after King Kong, accompanied by a choir and a band performing various versions of “Dios Te Salve” (local adaptations of “Ave Maria” with Spanish lyrics).

The parol did not acquire its standard five-pointed star shape until the American colonial period.

According to oral history, artisan Francisco Estanislao from Pampanga crafted the first five-pointed star-shaped parol in 1908. His creation, made from bamboo strips covered with Japanese paper and illuminated by a candle or kalburo (carbide lamp), marked a significant development in parol design.

The first battery-operated parols with incandescent bulbs appeared in the 1940s. In 1957, lantern-maker Rodolfo David invented parols with rotor systems for Barangay Santa Lucia’s entry in the Giant Lantern Festival of San Fernando, Pampanga.