Tags: Cottage Industries, Handicrafts, Tourism
By Anna Valmero
SAN FERNANDO CITY, PAMPANGA—The real beauty of Pampanga’s famous Giant Lanterns goes beyond the colorful exhibition of dancing lights. It is about the hours of hard work, unrelenting passion and creative craftmanship that locals put into every detail in designing and building these masterpieces.
Barely a month before the December parade and competition, the rustic and sleepy communities of San Fernando turn bustling with life with almost everyone busy to do their task just like at the backyard of Ernesto “Erning” Quiwa.
Quiwa is a fourth-generation descendant of Fransico Estanislao, who pioneered lantern making in San Fernando. For his part, he pioneered the use of colored plastic vinyl to replace the papel de hapon.
From from cleaning light bulbs, connecting bulb wires, cutting the plastic for the 20-feet long lanterns and modelling the light patterns with the giant rotors, it is a spectacular sight how each man and woman performs their duties like clockwork.
During a visit to Quiwa’s home in Barangay Sta. Lucia, we saw the frame of the 22-feet wide lantern, including the long wires at the back of the bulbs. According to worker Jun Mendoza, the lantern contains about 6,500 pieces of 50-watt colored bulbs arranged in intricate patterns.
Mang Jun has been constructing giant lanterns for over a decade now and is proud to continue the tradition showcasing Pampanga’s culture. In fact, he learned the craft as a kid from his father, who used to join a team for the giant lantern parade.
It takes days and the effort of five to 10 men to arrange the light bulbs into the frame a month before the Giant Lantern Festival. At least three men including electrician Eduardo Abad are arranging the wire connections of the bulbs before they are connected to the giant rotor tubes.
Still, another teenager cleans boxes of white bulbs from last year that will be incorporated into this year’s design. One old lady cuts small pieces of colorful plastic to envelop the metal wirings and bulbs into a colorful lantern design.
According to the Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel University, the lantern festival roots back to the humble lubenas that became a ligligan (competition of lanterns referred to as “Ligligan Parul”) in 1908. The lubenas were lighted as part of the La Naval festivities in Bacolor, former capitol of the province.
When the capitol was transferred to San Fernando, the lubenas tradition was carried on but natives rendered bigger lanterns as wide as ten feet, which paved the way for the giant lanterns of today. The first actual giant lantern that used electricity were introduced in 1931 through the use of motor rotors.
Each giant lantern costs about P650,000 to make. To subsidize the costs, the city government gave each barangay P111,111 for the creation of their official giant lantern entry, said city administrative aide Ogie Orejas.
Even so, the actual costs and labor needed to make one giant lantern is five times more than the P100,000 cash prize during the event, says Mang Jun.
“The prize is just icing on the cake. The real joy comes when we are able to unite as a community to make the giant lanterns and we can share our works during the parade,” he added.
But, according to Mang Erning, the proliferation of lanterns made of capiz and Christmas lights threatens the tradition of creating the giant lanterns. He urges fellow Pampanguenos to continue the tradition by trying “even once in their life” to join the community in making the giant lantern.
“The Pampanga giant lanterns depict the tenacity of Pampanguenos to keep this tradition alive from generation to generation. I am proud that in this modern age when eveything can be done in a push of a button, we are able to make the dancing lights of the giant lanterns the way it was done back in 1931.”
Get more information on Center for Kapampangan Studies
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