Proem

The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedia Dictionary defines Christmas as "A church festival observed annually on December 25 in memory of the birth of Jesus Christ. The season of Christmas extends from Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) to Epiphany (Jan. 6)."

In the Philippines and particularly in Bohol, we celebrate Christmas at the start of the "-ber" months (September up to December). Any party or celebration from December 1 to 25 can be called "Christmas Party." But strange enough, any party after December 25 can no longer be called "Christmas Party when in fact the Christmas season starts from Christmas Eve up to January 6 the next year.

A Lamentable Death

Last December 6, 2006 Assistant Solicitor General Nestor Ballacillo and his son Paul were murdered near their home in Parañaque City.

Judge Nestor Ballacillo was the chairman of the Panel of Arbitrators that arbitrated as to the correct site of the Sikatuna-Legazpi Blood Compact. The Panel's decision, which is now published by the National Historical Institute (NHI) in book-form, stated that the Blood Compact occurred in Hinawanan, Loay, Bohol on March 25, 1565. The NHI officially erected the marker at Hinawanan (Villalimpia), Loay on March 25, 2006.

We condemned the cold-blooded murder of Judge Ballacillo and President GMA has offered P1 million reward money for any information that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Malipayong Surapô

The word "Pasko" comes from the word "paschal." It refers to the Passover by death among the Hebrews in Egypt during the time of Prophet Moses. The Last Supper celebrated by Jesus Christ and his disciples was a Passover dinner. Therefore "Pasko" is a word that could be properly used during the Holy Week celebration.

"Surapô" is an old Sugboanon Bisayan word that means a season of joy, happiness, and the giving of gifts. Our present celebration of Christmas is practically a surapô.

The reason why the Spaniards did not popularize the word surapô was that it did not have any relation with the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact, surapô has no religious connotation. It is just a more or less numerous days in sequence designated for celebration and gift giving like a victory celebration, anniversary of the reign of a king, etc.

When the real Pasko during the Holy Week became widely celebrated the Spaniards also used the word Pasko for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. To distinguish between the two events, the Holy Week was called Pasko sa Pagkabánhaw and Christmas was called Pasko sa Pagkatáwo. However, the Holy Week has many particular words like Viernes Santo, Domingo de Gloria, etc. so eventually the Pasko came to be applied only to Christmas.

American Commercialization

When the Americans came, they introduced new concepts and personages in Christmas like Santa Claus, reindeers, snows, Christmas cards, Christmas parties, etc. The genius of the Filipinos and the Boholanos was able to integrate all these in a single celebration we now call Pasko. We even have Christmas salary bonus, which has no religious significance.

In effect, today's Christmas is no longer a religious event but a commercial event.

Let's Return To Basic

Pasko is a religious celebration. So let it remain as such. Since we now have the commercial aspect of the event, we must distinguish it properly. The proper Sugboanon Bisayan word for it is surapô.

Therefore if you refer to the parties, gift giving, caroling, salary bonus, and similar non-religious appendants of Christmas you should use the word surapô. If you refer to the religious activities like Holy Mass, processions, prayers, etc. you should use the word pasko.

You should be able to distinguish the words "Malipayong surapô = Joyous Yuletide season," "Malipayong pasko. = Merry Christmas," "Surapô sa pasko. = Gift giving and parties during Christmas," etc.

There is no conflict of meaning between Pasko and Surapô. In fact the Bisayan language is better because it distinguishes the religious and the commercial side of Christmas, which unfortunately we could not distinguish in the English language we use.

Malipayong Surapô kaninyong taná!