“Iwag it Kalibonhon” ceremonial lighting on December 15

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

The town of Kalibo will officially begin the celebration of the holidays with the lighting of 50-foot high Christmas tree at Kalibo Pastrana Park on December 15.

Adorned with holiday decors in white, gold, green and red brightly Christmas lights, Kalibo mayor William Lachica said key government officials will lead the “Iwag it Kalibonhon” or the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at the Kalibo Pastrana Park. 

Lachica said “every year, people await the ceremonial switch-on of the gigantic Christmas tree and trees draped with Christmas lights inside the park.. it is also a welcome refuge to children and people of all sorts who regularly visit this historic place to rest and play. “

The Christmas tree has also been known as the "Yule -tree", especially in discussions of its folkloric origins. The custom of the Christmas tree developed in early modern Germany (where it is today called Weihnachtsbaum or Christbaum or "Tannenbaum") with predecessors that can be traced to the 16th and possibly 15th century, in which devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.

It is frequently traced to the symbolism of trees in pre-Christian winter rites, in particular through the story of Donar's Oak  and the popularized story of Saint Boniface and the conversion of the German pagans, in which Saint Boniface cuts down an oak tree that the German pagans worshipped, and replaces it with an evergreen tree, telling them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the Trinity and how it points to heaven.

 “This ceremonial lighting officially ushers the festive holidays with the Christmas tree towering the Kalibo Pastrana Park,” the mayor added.

The Christmas tree at Kalibo Pastrana Park, festooned with LED lights, will be lit after dark, just hours  before the start of the nine-day Simbang Gabi masses practiced by Roman Catholics from December 16 to 24.