Holiday hangover
Published Dec 27, 2022 12:05 am
MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
With a snap of the fingers, Christmas Day has come and gone. It has always mystified us professional revelers if it was God’s plan to decree Christmas and New Year as a series, one following the other in a span of seven days to the dot.
What would earthly time be like if the two holidays, or holy days, were set far apart? Jan. 1, the first day of every new year, used to be a religious holiday marking the circumcision of the Baby Jesus according to Jewish law. For the sake of those who cannot have enough holidays, the 12 days of Christmas as they are called end on Jan. 6, which again traditionally was referred to as the Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings. (The Epiphany marks the dawning of Christianity among gentiles, or non-Jews and non-Christians, as represented by the Magi’s visit to the Baby, though it’s not a public holiday hereabouts.)
In the meantime, who cares what those days are called, as long as they’re holidays? Thank you, President BBM, for declaring yesterday, Monday, the day after Christmas 2022, a “special nonworking day throughout the country.” In the eyes of this dyed-in-the-wool holiday-seeker, PBBM has made himself the most charming Christmas President of the Republic. Look, he’s the first President to open Malacañang to the public for the nine days of the dawn masses, inviting them to have a feel of the place – gardens, lights, lanterns, the Christmas tree. “This is not my house,” he said as if we needed reminding, then he invited his visitors to partake of the “puto Bongbong” served hot.
Days before Christmas, PBBM presided over a tree-lighting ceremony with Malacañang employees and their children, during which a fabulous fireworks display seemingly pushed the calendar forward to Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve. “Christmas is for children,” he reiterated, but it was the adults, LGU workers all, who went home with ₱200,000 per team for the most brilliant Christmas lanterns which now occupy pride of place in Malacañang park.
By such small steps are VIP’s remembered. (I’m afraid it will take me a long time to unremember what the President’s big sister said about him: “He doesn’t know how to get mad.”)
Jullie Y. Daza
With a snap of the fingers, Christmas Day has come and gone. It has always mystified us professional revelers if it was God’s plan to decree Christmas and New Year as a series, one following the other in a span of seven days to the dot.
What would earthly time be like if the two holidays, or holy days, were set far apart? Jan. 1, the first day of every new year, used to be a religious holiday marking the circumcision of the Baby Jesus according to Jewish law. For the sake of those who cannot have enough holidays, the 12 days of Christmas as they are called end on Jan. 6, which again traditionally was referred to as the Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings. (The Epiphany marks the dawning of Christianity among gentiles, or non-Jews and non-Christians, as represented by the Magi’s visit to the Baby, though it’s not a public holiday hereabouts.)
In the meantime, who cares what those days are called, as long as they’re holidays? Thank you, President BBM, for declaring yesterday, Monday, the day after Christmas 2022, a “special nonworking day throughout the country.” In the eyes of this dyed-in-the-wool holiday-seeker, PBBM has made himself the most charming Christmas President of the Republic. Look, he’s the first President to open Malacañang to the public for the nine days of the dawn masses, inviting them to have a feel of the place – gardens, lights, lanterns, the Christmas tree. “This is not my house,” he said as if we needed reminding, then he invited his visitors to partake of the “puto Bongbong” served hot.
Days before Christmas, PBBM presided over a tree-lighting ceremony with Malacañang employees and their children, during which a fabulous fireworks display seemingly pushed the calendar forward to Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve. “Christmas is for children,” he reiterated, but it was the adults, LGU workers all, who went home with ₱200,000 per team for the most brilliant Christmas lanterns which now occupy pride of place in Malacañang park.
By such small steps are VIP’s remembered. (I’m afraid it will take me a long time to unremember what the President’s big sister said about him: “He doesn’t know how to get mad.”)