SPIRITS OF CHRISTMAS PAST
...in Asingan
Christmas lights in front of Alex Romero's house, taken 2003
Before the town fiesta arrives, another happy event in Asingan would be the Christmas season. The last Christmas which I attended in our hometown took place about 5-6 years ago. We went home on a Dec. 4 and came back to Toronto the following December 31. After a 24 hour flight, we touched down in Toronto a few hours before the parting of the new and old year because Manila has about 12 hours time difference with Toronto..
Thinking of it now, there were a few peculiar highlights of this trip. When we traveled to Pangasinan after a few days in Manila to recover from the ordeal of the long trip, I relished the sights in Tarlac where the Christmas lights were in full regalia..
And I thought there is a shortage of electric power here, I asked my companions..The towns and cities of Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan were bright with Christmas lights of all shapes, sizes and colours When we reached Asingan we saw many houses bright with their own Christmas lights. The Municipio itself looked a bit like Disneyland at night time.
Then the Misa de Gallo commenced when December 16 rolled around. In the new Asingan church, the singers, mostly students from the Rizal Academy were accompanied by huge speakers driven by powerful amplifiers. They were playing karaoke tracks of Christmas carols even if the season was still advent.
Ah the Misa de Gallo. I spent many Misa de Gallos in that choir loft over the old church ( before the big one in 1990 which toppled the whole church like a pack of cards.)
In 1960, the choir was accompanied by a violinist from Urdaneta, Mr. Jose de Guzman, the father of the incumbent priest, Fr, Lazaro de Guzman. The organist was Mrs. Fe Diaz Acosta, the sister of the late Atty. Rustico Diaz, Sr. She played the keyboard very well and she also had a very sweet angelic voice. Another musician, a violinist, was Mier Gacusana from Dupac. One choir member called him Jose Jr. because he played the violin fairly well. And so, I had the taste of working with the choir, no pay but each Misade Gallo, we had breakfast every morning. Sometimes the dogs in the priest's house would beat us to it. While we were singing, they were sampling our breakfast until there was nothing more left..
In the evenings, we went caroling. It was another non paying gig. But once in a while, some houseowners served arroz caldo. I brought an old acoustic guitar, Mier brought his violin and his sense of humour and a priest would always accompany us to keep the girls away from the boys..Caroling ended at 12:00 midnight, Misa de Gallo commenced at 4:00 and so there was not much sleep in between..
When Fr. Ferrer took over the church after Fr. de Guzman, some of the old choir members stayed, but they missed the easy and playful ways of Fr. de Guzman.. There was no more caroling. But the Misa de Gallo went on just the same. Sometimes there was breakfast, sometimes there was none.
But he always treated the choir with a picnic after the Xmas season ( usually after the New Year. ) One time, we went to a fishpond in Binmaley. I could not forget the menu then. There were boiled crabs, big shrimps, fried fish, and lots of oysters. The food was laid out on several layers of banana leaves.. Some of us used pieces of banana leaves as plates and we ate with our hands. There is nothing like eating with your bare hands especially if you are feasting on sea foods...
Such were my memories of the Christmas past---#
---vdc
The Yuletide decor in the facade of the former Rizal Academy, circa 2003
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