HOT NEGOSYO
The PAROLS of
SAN FERNANDO
The CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA is on a quest to bring color and light to the world BY ABBY YAO PHOTOS BY VINCENT COSCOLLUELA
P
AMPANGA is known nationwide for its cuisine and handcrafted products. But it’s the lanterns of the provincial capital of San Fernando that have gained for Pampanga its national and international identity. Dubbed the Lantern Capital of the Philippines because of its iconic Christmas lanterns unlike any other in the world, the city finds its greatest product its greatest challenge as well. The Giant Lantern Festival, where barangays compete for the honor of having the year’s best 18-foot, manually operated parol, draws 50,000 spectators every December. The giant lanterns share the same four components with the six- to 12-bulb “commercial” lantern, making them distinctly Fernandino: the siku-siku (main star), tambor (middle star), palimbun (around the main star), and punteta (outermost part). Although other provinces, such as Tarlac and Las Piñas, have begun making lanterns, the iconic parols have come to symbolize the City of San Fernando and the province of Pampanga as a whole. “We could see that the skills in making lanterns were inherent in the people of San Fernando,” says Pampanga Regional Director Bles Lantayona. “Because of this, we wanted to enhance the image of San Fernando as the lantern capital not only of Pampanga but of the Philippines as well.” Thus, the city government identified lanterns for DTI’s OTOP (One Town, One Product) program and the lanterns were twice named model OTOP for Region III. 12 • OCTOBER 2008 • GLOBE MASIGASIG
Production of parols is labor-intensive so Daisy Flores and her team make their capiz lanterns almost year-round in preparation for peak sales in November and December