Philippine Society and Culture

  Finally, the country's biggest and grandest festival is happening tomorrow, January 15, 2023, at the South Road Properties despite issues and concerns about the new venue.  But what can the revelers, pilgrims and devotees expect in tomorrow's Sinulog Grand Parade and Ritual Dance Showdown? Well, aside from the change of venue from the Cebu City Sports Complex as it used to be held for almost 40 years and this year transferred to the South Road Properties. In tomorrow's Sinulog, expect the following: 1. As previously announced, no signal shutdown. Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama confirmed this development. You can communicate with your loved ones and friends tomorrow. 2.  Simultaneous street parties  at Fuente Osmena Circle and Plaza Independencia at 8pm after the Sinulog Grand Finale.  3.  There will be free motorcycle rides to the Sinulog venue courtesy of motorcycle ride - hailing company, Angkas. 4.  Shuttle buses to the venue are also available for fre...

  With just a week left before the 2023 Sinulog festival celebration, the Sinulog fever is on. Sinulog or Saulog in the Cebuano dialect is an annual religious festival in honor of the Miraculous Child, Senior Sto. Nino. It's considered the country's mother of all festivals because of its grandeur and importance to Filipino Catholics.  This religious-cultural event is celebrated every third Sunday of January that draws millions of revelers and devotees from different countries around the world.  Walk with Jesus  On January 5th and as the event's opening salvo, around 300 thousand devotees of the Miraculous Child attended the ' Walk with Jesus, ' a dawn foot procession that marks the start of the Sinulog religious events.  The foot procession started at the Fuente Osmena Circle and ended at the Basilica Minore Del Sto. Nino church where the image of the Holy Child is housed.  This more than a kilometer stretch was filled with thousands of candle-bearing devot...

The Cebu City government and the Department of Education have once again recognized and appreciated the students’ values of hardships and perseverance in the 33rd Don Sergio Academic Excellence Award last December 19, 2022, at the IEC Convention Center Cebu City.  Don Sergio Osmena Awards. The Don Sergio Osmena Award is an annual awarding rite in honor of the late Don Sergio Osmena Sr. It is initiated by the Cebu City government and the Department of Education where the best of the best students from among private and public schools in Cebu City are given an award.  As a token of appreciation for their efforts in their studies, monetary rewards of P10,000 pesos are given to the awardees. This monetary reward is given to valedictorian students from elementary and high school students.  The late Don Sergio Osmeña. The event was organized by the Cebu City government. It was in honor of the province’s Don Sergio Osmeña. The event was graced by no less than Cebu City Mayor him...

With just hours left before we bid good bye to 2022, revelers around the world are enthusiastically waiting for the unfolding of the brand new year, 2023. Regardless of one's religion and race, a new year is always welcome and celebrated with enthusiasm and optimism.  But what is really the essence of New Year? What does it signify? Does it really bring change into our life?  New Year Resolutions  Funny, yet it's true. Decades ago, during our elementary and high school years, our English teachers then would ask us to write our new year resolutions. Still savoring the new year fever, we would gladly oblige to our teachers and start writing the things we want to change as many as we could. These new year resolutions ranging from having crushes and puppy love, studying harder, attending to classes, saving money, and many more.  Visualizing the success of these new year resolutions would make us happy and proud.  Sadly, our burning desire for life's changes fizzles ...

Today another historical event will be celebrated by the Filipinos, the commemoration of the life and works of the country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. But what are the reasons behind today's celebration? Why do Filipinos need to celebrate this event? Dr. Jose Rizal's life and values  Unknown to many, Dr. Jose Rizal was a multi-talented person. At a very young age of 35, he was already articulate in so many subjects: be in literary, music, language, medicine and romance.  He was also a leading figure in the Filipinos' against the colonizers using just pen and paper and his literary skills.  Aside from his humane values of compassion, bravery, kindness, and generosity which he manifested during his exile in Dapitan,  Dr. Jose Rizal was also a medical doctor.  Below are some of the qualities of Dr. Jose Rizal: Linguist/polyglot.   The country's national hero could speak not two, three but 22 different languages, an extra-ordinary talent possessed onl...

  Adhering to Catholics' religious traditions and as part of the Christmas celebration, a series of nine dawn masses are held in Catholic churches all over the country that starts on the 16th and ends on the 24th of December every year where millions of Catholic faithful flock to different churches in the country to hear these dawn  masses.  This string of dawn masses draws millions of Catholic parishioners and faithful all over the country every year. Historically, it's the first and the last Misa de Gallo masses that draw the biggest parishioners numbering in millions.  In this blog, we'll talk about the Misa de Gallo and why it is significant to Catholics.  Significance of Misa de Gallo. The Misa de Gallo is just one of the traditions celebrated during the Christmas season in the Philippines. This string of dawn masses is significant to the Catholics for it's associated with the celebration of the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.  Filipino Catholics ma...

  'Honesty is the best policy,' a universal maxim referring to an act of honesty manifested by some people in many ways and situations. But does this saying still hold true these days? If so, how do they value and manifest this popular value, particularly among Filipinos?  In this blog post, we will discuss if Filipinos still value honesty these days. If so, how do they manifest this virtue of honesty? Lost items. Losing one's pertinent documents, money, pieces of jewelry, and other important belongings is emotionally painful and distressing. But what makes it more painful is the thought of losing them permanently.  Fortunately, there are still people, particularly Filipinos, who are willing and ready to do good things for others wholeheartedly and unconditionally, like returning lost and found items.  The Philippines is just one of the countries in the world whose people have been suffering from poverty for a very long time.  The Marcos administration is i...