Philippine's Christmas Street Caroling

Last year, Christmas caroling was not allowed even in the entire neighborhood due to the infectious virus 'Covid-19.' We have to follow social standards and strict protocol, especially when we are in a crowded place. We have to follow a social distancing when talking and we have to check our temperatures everytime we enter different establishments. The pandemic really made the Christmas boring and somewhat dead. We cannot totally enjoy it due to the threat of virus. But this year, it's definitely over. COVID-19 is no longer rampant and it only means we are now allowed to celebrate Christmas in the crowd and anywhere around the world.

As the month of December begins, the streets in the Philippines are filled with children including adults caroling house to house. You can hear different Christmas songs sung by group together with different accompaniments. Children love to use the caps of the bottle as tambourines. When I was a kid, all of the kids including me around the neighborhood would gather some caps to flatten and then we would make them as a tambourine for the Christmas caroling. It is really fun at the same time it shows how creative we Filipinos can be without spending money for a certain thing. Children can already make their own tambourines.

The Spirit of Christmas in Philippines is very alive. We like to countdown early. Singing a Christmas carol in the street is one of them. Christmas carollers will sing in front of the house and after finishing the carolling, we will say "Namamasko po" or "Mayng Pasko Tagbalay," in Bisaya which means "Merry Christmas to this house." The owner of the house will open the door and give a generous coins or even money bill. After the children or the carollers received the coin, we will sing "Thank you, Thank you ang bait ninyo," which translates in English as "Thank you, Thank you, you are so kind."

The Christmas caroling is done at night but there are few people who like to do it in the day time. It's more fun to carol at night as you see a lot of Christmas lights and decorations anywhere. The songs sung are both English and Filipino. It's rare to see someone solo carolling. It is the more, the merrier. I do not like it when I hear people saying that some carollers are begging because for me they are only singing and bringing fun to the Christmas seasons. There are few of Christmas carollers who are homeless but I don't want people to think they are only begging, we should be generous in sharing our blessings in the time of season of love and giving-the Christmas.

Caroling is already a part of Filipino tradition. This year, I hope it will totally be revive. It's nice to hear children singing in the streets and people giving gifts and candies to these beautiful children. I really had a memorable childhood because of this. In fact, I can't believe childhood is over. I miss the time where me and my neighboring kids will gather along to sing in the streets. Sometimes we are even shy to sing in front of a big house but thankfully we have fellow kids who are very eager to sing. The most tricky part from it is singing in front of a house where a scary barking dog wants to move out from the gate. It's really memorable everytime I think about those younger years of my life. My childhood memory won't be complete without a caroling experience.

I am very happy that the world is now going back to the normal state. In fact, this is the first normal Christmas after the pandemic. Christmas is indeed the season to be jolly in Philippines. It's the occasion where everyone is excited and generous to share their blessings. Christmas is not complete without "Namamasko" in the street or the Christmas carollers. It symbolised the Filipino's huge spirit of Christmas traditions.

November 18, 2022

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