CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—As long as there’s Christmas, Pampanga lantern makers will continue to make lanterns, and will never run out of business.
This belief is what drives Rolando Quiambao, 62, Pampanga’s foremost lantern maker.
What started out then as a childhood passion has become his key to success, because in this capital city north of Manila, and almost all cities in the world, it’s the Christmas season that is the most highly anticipated event.
“So when they asked me until when I will make lanterns, I told them [that] as long as there’s Christmas, we will continue making lanterns, and we will never run out of business,” said Quiambao in the Pampango vernacular from his residence-cum-factory in Barangay Del Pilar here on Monday.
“If you observe closely, Christmas is a highly anticipated event especially for Filipinos,” he added. “That is why there is a great demand for lanterns, even in the local market. For Metro Manila alone there’s a huge demand.”
Learning the craft
Quiambao is considered the foremost lantern maker here today, not only for his senior age and for winning the Ligligan Parul (Giant Lantern Festival) four times in a row, which elevated him to the Hall of Fame category, but also due to his advocacy of promoting the Capampangan culture and tradition.
In 2004 Quiambao was awarded The Outstanding Fernando Award and the following year was recognized with the Most Outstanding Kapampangan Award for his craftsmanship.
His story started when he was a child growing up here, where he learned his craft from older folks, handed down from generation to generation and sustained passion.
That’s how he learned, Quiambao said, his lantern-making craft, which he turned into a profession in 1986 in Barangay Del Pilar.
“I am the only lantern maker in my family, and when I was a child, I used to make lanterns by asking for little pieces of paper from the [older] lantern makers,” he recalled. “But the old folks then would say, ‘work first before I give you some paper.’”
“I was able to capitalize on the popularity of Barangay Del Pilar because, at that time, the village is the winningest [entry] in the Giant Lantern Festival,” Quiambao recalled.
Barangay Del Pilar won the contest a record nine times in a row, a feat unmatched until today.
But back then it’s only more for honor and prestige, Quiambao said. So admittedly, he has no formal training. Today, however, he has created his own module in lantern making because one of his advocacies is to pass on his craft to the younger generations.
Learning course
Quiambao said he is mulling over the possibility of seeking the inclusion of lantern making in the Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education for out-of-school youths as his legacy to the craft.
“Because not every senior high school can go to college,” he added. “So I thought, based on my personal observation, I should start training younger craftsmen because there is a huge demand from the market,” Quiambao said.
“Now we are doing more contractual jobs and we lack workers, so I ask some youths here if they want to learn the craft and I started training them,” he added.
“Right now, I have five neophytes who now are working in Parañaque doing repairs on lanterns, which I did last year at the city hall,” Quiambao said.
The ’chosen’
A Business Management graduate from the University of Assumption, a stone’s throw away from his residence, Quiambao now oversees RolRen’s Lantern and General Merchandise.
The store doubles as his residence and factory, where he oversees more than 40 workers.
“But only a few graduate to become good craftsmen,” he lamented, “because the work needs dedication and passion.”
Quiambao said the work is hard and laborious, and the designs are deviating every time. “It [design] changes, that is why it is important to always have something new. There should always be innovations,” he added. His lanterns reached as far as Palau, Guam, South Korea, the US and Canada.
But Quiambao said he is also into the lantern-retail business that his wife and children manage.
Most of the lanterns sold for retail are made from Capiz shells, plastic and rope lights, he said.
“I told the mayor, let us not just sell lanterns, let us also sell our lights. That is why it’s now lights and lanterns. Now we also create decorative pieces like chandeliers and lamps,” Quiambao added.
“We also cater to weddings for their tokens or giveaways to their guests,” he said.
Big income
Actually lantern making guarantees big income, he said. “We have just delivered three 20-foot container vans of lanterns,” Quiambao revealed.
“After All Saints’ Day, 600 big lanterns will be delivered to Parañaque, Pasig and San Mateo,” he added.
Quiambao said the lanterns for Asiana City and the Philippine International Convention Center are already finished.
“We got the contract for five giant lanterns in Malacañang for the welcome ceremony of Asean delegates. They will be initially displayed at the Mall of Asia and later put on permanent display in Malacañang,” he said. “That’s part of the pride of the Capampangans,” he added.
Giant lantern festival
“Barangay Del Pilar is joining the Giant Lantern Festival in December, but for almost nine years I stopped joining the festival because I rested,” Quiambao said. “But now the village needs my services, so I agreed to join again.”
Quiambao chuckled when told that his works are world renowned. “That’s what they say.”
Since 1908, this city has been holding the annual Ligligan Parul, or the Giant Lantern Festival.
Cultural advocacy
“My advocacy is the Capampangan culture,” Quiambao said. “I just don’t make lanterns; what I really wanted is to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Pampanga.”
Quiambao said whenever local and foreign tourists come here, “I tell them a story, just like Lola Basyang [a popular children’s story teller during earlier years].
“I tell them about the history of the lanterns. Actually I am writing a book titled Amana ku ing pamana ku [I inherited my legacy]. I tell the story, not only of the parol [lantern], but also how Christmas was observed by the Capampangans a long time ago that youths today did not experience and see,” Quiambao said.
“Like when you see smoke coming from your neighbor’s house, it means that they are already cooking kalame [rice cake], and tradition dictates that the youngest in the family was designated as the one who will bring food to the neighbors, and when they returned the plate, it was also full of food that the neighbors gave,” Quiambao narrated.
“Then you gather around the embers because it’s chilly and during the Lubenas [candle procession] you can smell the Dama de Noche [Ladies of the Night flowers]. That’s what I have written in my book,” he continued.
Quiambao explained that the Capampangan lantern began with the Lubenas because the slightest wind usually blows out the candles, so the innovative Capampangans put a cover and those covers evolved into the parol.
But what makes Pampanga lanterns different from the others?
Quiambao said Pampanga lanterns display the character of the Capampangans who are maarte (lavish), that is why the designs are intricate and mayabang (showoffs), which explains why they made them bigger and bigger, joyful and colorful.
The visitors are amazed when they learn the history of the parol, so it is the true character of the Capampangans that molded the parol into what they are today, he added.
The negative character has turned into positive trait for the Capampangans, Quiambao said, which also explains the Capampangans are good cooks, good craftsmen, better woodcarvers and excel in every endeavor in the walk of life, he said.
Among the leading Capampangan lantern makers are Ernesto Quiwa and his sons Arvin, Eric, Francis and Omar; Florante Parilla; Edmar David; David Sanchez; Daisy Flores; and Mark Nino Tizon Flores, among others.
The 50th anniversary of the Asean recently was observed with the simultaneous lighting of the iconic Capampangan lanterns, with President Duterte leading the ceremonial switch-on at the grounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Image credits: Ashley Manabat