‘Belenismo’ now
TO most Filipinos, Christmas’ arrival date is Sept. 1. In Tarlac, a province of more than half a million, the end of June marks the beginning of the merriest season, when they start collecting readily available materials to fashion their most fantastical, biblical, whimsical, practical “belen,” symbol of the season that brings together Mary, Jesus, and Joseph with a strong supporting cast of sheep and shepherds, the Three Kings, and a host of angels under that brightly shining star.
The feverish preparations having begun in July, they accelerated to the next phase when 49 belen were registered for the “Belenismo” competition. Last Saturday, a dozen jurors were bussed from Manila to spend half a day judging 27 final entries after a separate group had eliminated 22. Isabel Cojuangco Suntay, founder of Tarlac Heritage Foundation that sponsors the yearly festival, warned the jurors that they would have a hard time picking the winners because she could not on her own decide which were the best, each so beautiful and eloquent in its own way. Dr. Isa C. Suntay, Mrs. Suntay’s daughter and namesake, threw an additional challenge, “In other words, my mother is tossing the headache at you.”
Twenty-seven masterpieces of straw, bamboo, paper, plastic, wood, cloth, empty soda cans and bottles, corn husks, and what-have-you to grade in one night? With a caveat: 50 percent of the belen must be made of recycled materials. The jurors were given five minutes to look at each belen. But the 27 were distributed all over the province, so the task involved traveling long distances, until they called it a day at the last stop, at 2 a.m. My score? 100 percent demand for DOT to make Belenismo a national tourism destination!
The winners will be known first week of December, but why wait for the announcement when you can visit Tarlac now? Every belen is already a winner.
Belenismo 2015, my Christmas in November, spent in the company of amateur designers with little money and plenty of imagination to interpret a theme 2,000 years old, as close to home as their church and their nearest Christmas dreams. For more information, tarlac_heritage@hotmail. com or 0915-5373-827.