ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider San Jose del Monte City breaks Guinness record for live Nativity scene

San Jose del Monte City breaks Guinness record for live Nativity scene

Published Dec 21, 2019 12:00 am
By Ben Rosario Bulacan’s San Jose del Monte, one of the fast-growing cities in Luzon, earned international recognition for setting a new Guinness Book of World record for the largest number of of living figures in a Nativity scene. (Photo via Ben Rosario/ MANILA BULLETIN) (Photo via Ben Rosario/ MANILA BULLETIN) A total 2,101 individuals dressed and made up for Nativity scene roles on Friday and converged at the Nativity scene site at Altraza Spine Road, Barangay Tungkong Mangga to set the new world record. The Yuletide season event’s record of participants nearly doubled the three-year record of 1,254 individuals set by the Caine Town Council and bible Society in Calne, Wilshire, England on December 3, 2016. Record of the number of participants for each role are not yet available as of presstime. The office of Bulacan Rep. Florida Robes disclosed that the new record was declared by Swapnil Dangarikar, official adjudicator of the Guinness Book of World Record . He made the official announcement after the staging of the birth of Jesus Christ. The nativity scene consisted of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, wise men, shepherds, angels and livestock. The event was spearheaded by the San Jose del Monte local government under Mayor Arthur Robes. Rep. Robes expressed elation over the setting of the new world record, saying it was a testament of the unity and commitment of the people of SJDM to achieve a feat for the city. “It took us around six months to prepare for this event. The process was so tedious because the Guinness Book of World Records had strict requirements. But with the perseverance of our people, we made it and we are very happy,” Robes said. The Robes couple also participated in the Nativity scene as shepherds who came to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. She added that the Nativity scene was chosen because of the innate religiosity of the people of SJDM. The administration lawmaker stressed that this is also based on the Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis encouraging Catholics to display the nativity scene in their homes and in other public places. “We felt that we were being blessed because a few days ago, Pope Francis said in his apostolic letter that putting up a Nativity scene before Christmas is a reminder to stop and remember what Christmas is really about and to prepare one's heart like a manger for the coming of Christ,” she said in a p4ess statement. For his part, Mayor Robes aired hopes that the event will inspire his constituents to put the essence of Christmas in the forefront of the celebrations. “We can achieve much more if we are united and we hope that this Nativity scene reminds us the true reason of the season as we face hand in hand life’s challenges. This is the best Christmas gift we have received as a city,” the city executive stated in a separate press statement.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.