Families from the Philippines living in the Battlefords start preparing for Christmas as early as September. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff) 

By Angela Brown

Keeping traditions

Families from Philippines prepare for Christmas in September

Sep 3, 2019 | 2:01 PM

September may mean a time for heading into fall and raking leaves for most Battlefords families, but for the Philippine community it is a time to prepare for the Christmas season.

Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year for Filipino people, and many living here try to hold on to their tradition.

Claire Legaspi, from the Philippines, has lived in the Battlefords for the past three years. She makes an effort to carry on her traditions “because it is part of who we are.”

“Christmas is a big occasion for many Filipinos,” she said, adding families will get together to celebrate, and because most Filipinos are Catholics they also celebrate with their faith.

Legaspi usually sets up her Christmas tree by the middle of October, but will install it by the end of October now that she is living in Canada.

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During this month, many in her home country will gather to sing Christmas carols in the malls and purchase decorations. Some radio stations have already started playing Christmas music this month in the Philippines.

“Some TV shows start a countdown to Christmas as early as September,” she said. “They say it’s the ‘ber’ month so you are near December.”

Legaspi said it’s a tradition she misses.

“It makes you more aware of it a little bit earlier,” she said.

Miyahki Jane Yamamoto also enjoys the excitement leading up to Christmas for Filipino families.

The teen said her family begins preparing Christmas decorations in September.

“We start setting up the Christmas trees and playing some Christmas songs to give that Christmas vibe,” she said. “Some of the kids go caroling, from house-to-house around September or October, into December.”

Yamamoto immigrated to the Battlefords area with her family five years ago.

She said since it’s warm in the Philippines it’s more conducive to caroling on the streets, with no freezing temperatures to brave like here.

Yamamoto said people in the Battlefords also likely wouldn’t be familiar with the Filipino custom, and might be taken aback by a group of carolers suddenly showing up on their doorstep.

Her family will usually donate to an orphanage or to another charity during the extended Christmas season.

Yamamoto said Filipino people will attend mass each day nine days before Christmas, so she misses that tradition.

Halloween also isn’t celebrated in Philippine culture the same as it is in Canada either.

Instead of children trick-or-treating on Oct. 31, families are more likely to recognize the occasion by paying homage to their deceased relatives and visit cemeteries on All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow