01/09/2025
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐
๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐จ๐ฌ
Only in the Philippines does the calendar trigger Christmas carols as soon as it slips into September. While other nations wait until December to dust off their holiday playlists, we begin ours a full quarter earlier. It is a phenomenon so uniquely Filipino that it has become a cultural timestamp: the first-ber month signals not just the beginning of the yearโs end, but the crescendo of everything we are as a people.
๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ, ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ.
It is the season of anticipation and nostalgia. Cooler nights and faint breezes signal a shift, reminding us that time is rushing toward another conclusion. This stretch of months magnifies the duality of lifeโ the promise of reunions and festivities, but also the reckoning with goals unachieved, plans deferred, and resolutions forgotten. They are not just a countdown to Christmas; they are a reminder that time, relentless as ever, waits for no one.
Hence, ber months is also infamous for being the season of consumption and contradictions. As soon as (Christmas) lights are plugged in, so too are the cash registers. Prices creep up, shopping carts overflow, and every mall bursts with sales masquerading as savings. A nation that bemoans inflation finds itself splurging on gifts and noche buena staples. The paradox is totally clear, the ber months showcase both our generosity and our vulnerability, our joy in giving and our struggle in affording. The season becomes a mirror of our resilience, where even scarcity is dressed in celebration.
Yet, beyond the glitter of commerce, ber-months will also reveal a lot of things when you least expect it. ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฌโsome find new love under the parols, others close chapters before the year ends. It reminds us that joy and grief, hope and hardship, coexist more vividly as the year winds down.
And so, ber-months are not just about Christmas, they are about identity. They reveal our extraordinary capacity to stretch joy across four months, to endure hardship with humor, and to transform even pressure into merriment. ๐๐จ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ซ๐๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ซ๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ: a people who cling to family, faith, and festivity, even in the face of uncertainty.
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โ๏ธ: Jhun Mark Baranggan
๐: Marvet Mowli Brigoli
