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THE IRONY OF CHRISTMAS No doubt, despite the hard knocks we Filipinos got hit with in 2013, Christmas will still be the happiest time of the year. It will be subdued this year, but we will not let our spirits sink too low. It’s Christmas, and we’re Filipinos, after all. We Filipinos are flawed in many ways, something all peoples of the world have a share of. But, if we’re anything, we’re a darn tough bunch. Creator made us pliant, resilient, and adaptable. We go wrong in a lot of ways and things. But we carry on. We let life’s barriers and hurdles slow us down but we don’t let them stop us completely. We bend and we bow. But we don’t break. We’re Filipinos, darn it! And so we won’t let anything stop us from making hay this Christmas. We won’t let Yolanda, Napoles, Don Mariano bus drivers, Enrile, or Miriam spoil our Christmas. We will drink and be merry – why do you think Christmas always comes with “merry”? – and indulge ourselves. We’ll whip up the usual Yuletide table fare and the beer and the punch and the tooting and greetings and all that Christmas jazz. Heck, it’s Christmas and not to have a good time would be un-Filipino. Yes, yes, Ergo said in the last column that our Christmas has been stolen, taken away, by spoilsport Yolanda and that this Christmas will be especially gloomy because of the utter devastation wrought by that furious woman of a superstorm. Ah, but we’re Filipinos, we won’t let disaster get in the way of having fun at Christmas, we love Christmas. As no other people in the world. We love Christmas so much, we will scrape up our savings and go to the market and buy whatever we can afford to set up a decent Noche Buena. Dang, we will borrow money just so we can buy the beer and Emperador for the boys. And we will have a Christmas hangover that we deserve and we’ve gotten used to over the years and forget if the garbage gets taken out the following morning or the Christmas table got cleaned up on Christmas Eve or Day. That will all be for later. We will have the usual, typical Filipino Christmas. But will everybody have a good time? Christmas, while our happiest time of the year, can also be the loneliest time for many people. People who are sick, hungry, homeless, aged, troubled, desperate, frustrated, and most of all, alone. In the midst of all the celebration and all the carousing, many, too many, people are not capable of celebrating and enjoying Christmas. They are on the fringes of society, familyless, friendless. They won’t have a happy Christmas. This is where life is unfair. For those many people who, for various reasons, don’t have the wherewithal to spend for a memorable Christmas, the season is a lonely and frustrating time. They have no money to pay for a passable Christmas, no friends or family to celebrate it with, and even no place to celebrate it in. “Wherewithal” in this case truly becomes, as a colleague of mine from an earlier incarnation coined, “wherewithoutit.” For how can anyone celebrate when there’s no money in one’s pocket and there’s no one around to be happy with. And can it be a truly fun Christmas when one’s home is underneath a bridge or within sniffing distance of Payatas? This is where life becomes not only unfair but cruel. But, as the good Jesuit in the papal chambers on St. Peter’s Square would tell us, Christmas doesn’t have to be luxe, doesn’t have to be rich, doesn’t have to be a table full of sumptuous fare, doesn’t have to be spanking new clothes, doesn’t have to be bathed in luxury. It only has to be Christmas. money, after all, can’t buy a happy Christmas. So it’s ok if we will have to make do with a simple Christmas menu, with clean clothes on the ’s backs, and as long as our loved ones are around. It doesn’t have to be a Christmas tree in the living room, with Christmas presents heaped around it. It doesn’t have to be hamon and hot cocoa on Christmas morning. It’s the spirit that counts. That may be so for those who can smugly say that. But tell it to the guy and his family under the bridge, with their “candlelit” Christmas underneath the roaring traffic, inhaling exhaust smoke as their Christmas present. Speak to him about the irony of it all. As I am writing this, an electronic Christmas greeting from a dear friend abroad arrived, with impeccable timing. It says, fittingly: Think of those whose pain and wants are unbearably heavy/Those who are ill/and Those who make decisions that have profound consequences. *** Happy Christmas to all from ERGO!.. MANILA BULLETIN 
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Filipinos are noted for being strong in the midst of calamities and personal dilemma. Babangon at babangon ang mga nasalanta. Merry Christmas to you and to your family. susan
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Just think of the less fortunate peeps out there. And be thankful for what you have... have a Merry !!! susan
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Merry Christmas Sunshiny ! So true of pinoys. susan
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Just think of the less fortunate peeps out there. And be thankful for what you have... have a Merry !!! TReAt oTHerS LiKe YoU wAnT tO BE TReAteD !!!
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Filipinos are noted for being strong in the midst of calamities and personal dilemma. Babangon at babangon ang mga nasalanta. Merry Christmas to you and to your family. Once in a while, someone comes along to put you on top of the world.  
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Merry Christmas Sunshiny ! So true of pinoys. I'm a senior citizen . Don't expect me to remember anything 
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I am one of those who are not very merry this Christmas but I still consider myself fortunate than a lot of others. Christmas will soon pass and life will be back to normal and there will be many more Christmases or other holidays that I can make up for this one. All I want for Christmas is a hug.  Merry Christmas to you and your family.Let us just be thankful for whatever we have. we r still lucky for having something!! hugs hugs hugs!!
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I am one of those who are not very merry this Christmas but I still consider myself fortunate than a lot of others. Christmas will soon pass and life will be back to normal and there will be many more Christmases or other holidays that I can make up for this one. All I want for Christmas is a hug. Merry Christmas to you and your family. “Use the quotation for the occasion; do not make an occasion for the quotation.”
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