Importer and Distributor of Foods from the Philippines and Asia

In the Philippines, the classic Christmas carols sound from the radio as early as September.  Christmas is not only of one of the most celebrated holidays in the Philippines but the longest in the world.  As people anticipate the season even the month of November is spent decorating homes for the holidays. Many homes, if not all, have Christmas trees up, adorned in light and ornaments as early as mid-November. Celebrations are very much rooted in the country’s colonial past with strong Spanish and Mexican influences. Later the United States created an impact as well. Check back regularly as we take you on a tour of Christmas celebrations in the Philippines.

Much to vexation of the pious and religious, the Christmas season starts early in the Philippines and tends to gloss over the Advent Season, the season of preparation , which is known as  “Preparing for the coming or birth of Jesus”.  Christmas season starts December 16, nine days before Christmas, with the first Misa de Aguinaldo, when the faithful gather together as early as for 4 am for pre-dawn masses.  After mass, the faithful flock to the vendors outside the church to eat “puto bumbong”, a sticky violet rice steamed in bamboo tubes, served with grated coconut with sugar and ginger tea known as “salabat”. The pre-dawn mass, Simbang Gabi, is a tradition also observed also in Mexico, Puerto Rico and other countries colonized by Spain.  In the Philippines today Misa de Aguinaldo and Misa de Gallo are used interchangeably.