Story & photo by Danica Mae M. Lacson
PAUL Paras was only 17 when he saw his future in the stars. That was after taking over and began managing the lantern business started in 1975 by his uncle, Francisco Castro.
Now that business is well-known as P. Paras Lanterns and Handicrafts, standing tall among other businesses in one of the streets of Dolores, San Fernando, Pampanga.
The country was still under martial law when Paras Lanterns began with a capital of P20,000, a hefty sum considering the peso’s devaluation and an economy in shambles.
“We had eight workers that time, little competition and a large demand for the Filipino parol,” Paras said.
The first lantern was made from Japanese paper, he explained in Filipino. Then plastic was used until capiz shells, Paras added. The smallest parol that time was 3 feet and the biggest was 5 feet, he said.
Today there are lanterns that are 18 to 20 feet high.
Commercialization
LONG recognized as the Christmas Capital of the Philippines, San Fernando traces the history of its lantern-making in 1908 to Francisco Estanislao of Santa Lucia, who made lanterns from bamboo and coco cloth.
The first lantern competition was organized in 1931. However, it was only 33 years after the first lantern competition that the “parul Sampernandu” became available for sale, giving birth to the commercial lantern industry in the city.
The lanterns were manufactured initially for competition, that is why they were made big, Paras said in Filipino.
Then smaller lanterns were produced, so these could be displayed at home, he added.
“Ang daming nagtatanong kung saan gawa,” Paras said. “Doon nagsimula ang paggawa ng unti-unti, by order. [Many people asked where these lanterns were being made. Slowly, families began producing lanterns by order],” Paras said.
To date, there are 28 recorded lantern-makers, according to the City Investment Promotion Center (CIPC) of San Fernando.
The P. Paras Lanterns and Handicrafts sells lanterns made of plastic and capiz shells in varying sizes and designs but following the basic five-pointed or double five-pointed frame structure.
The months of November and December are the peak months of P. Paras Lanterns and Handicrafts. Its lean months are from February to August, he explained.
During the off-season, the firm earns only between P5,000 and P10,000 a month. The firm earns hundreds of thousands during the peak season, Paras said.
Changes
THIRTY-three years into the industry, the 50-year-old Paras said he has witnessed a lot of changes in the parol making in Pampanga.
No one uses Japanese paper today, since there has been no demand for such products, he said in Filipino.
Paras added they use plastic from China and capiz shells from Bataan and the Visayas.
“We are trying to create and develop alternatives, like fiberglass [but it smells bad] and [maybe] bad for the health,” said Jeffrey Yutuc, the product development officer of the CIPC. “We are still looking deeper into it.”
Paras added there have also been changes in the design, color, shapes and materials in lanterns since the 1970s. The market of lanterns has also expanded to include provinces outside Pampanga and, although at a minimum, other countries.
Today they also serve markets in Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao, Paras said. The company has catered to local governments and clients around the country, specifically in Cavite, Pangasinan, Tarlac and Cebu. A large portion of our clients are tourists and balikbayan, or Filipinos returning from abroad for vacation, he added.
Despite the changes that lantern-making has undergone in the past decades, the lantern industry has not significantly changed from Paras’s view.
“Halos ganun pa rin. Hindi mahina. Hindi malakas. [Business remains the same: not weak, not strong],”
Festival
IF Paras will rate the lantern industry in San Fernando, Pampanga, he will give the Christmas Capital of the Philippines a passing grade of 7 out of 10.
“May kita naman, kaya lang hindi fully utilized. [We do earn, but the revenue is underutilized],” Paras said.
Still, Paras is optimistic the industry will reach a 100-percent revenue growth with government support.
“[Currently], walang projects ang gobyerno for the lantern industry, aside [from the] Giant Lantern Festival.”
The festival is an annual lantern competition participated in by different barangays in San Fernando, and held every third Saturday of December.
Although Paras recognizes the help of the festival in promoting the lantern industry, he also believes there’s still a need to strengthen the industry beyond the event’s potentials for generating tourism revenues.
He said the government should also look into lantern manufacturing as an industry that can boost the local economy of San Fernando, especially since demand for the sector’s products is seasonal.
Diversification
YUTUC said the local government is doing its part to protect and support not only the industry, but the lantern-makers themselves through encouraging diversification.
“We are diverting the lantern industry into the [lighting] industry, [because lanterns are becoming] decorative,” Yutuc said. “We are seeing to it [that it doesn’t only become] seasonal [and] that, instead of lantern industry, [it becomes an] industry [on lights], so we can cater to all the light-manufacturing products.”
However, of the 28 registered lantern-makers here, only two or three have welcomed the proposed diversion to manufacture lightings.
For Yutuc, the “okay na” mind-set of lantern-makers hinders the large-scale expansion of the industry.
Promoting our local culture is fine but if it boils down to business, we are getting left behind, he said.
“Naiiwan tayo, which is nagiging negative impact sa economy natin.”
Yutuc, however, admitted the government does not provide support for lantern-makers in acquiring raw materials, “because they have their own contacts.”
Support
HOWEVER, Yutuc said the local government has been supporting lantern-makers.
We bring them to Manila during trade fairs, he said. “We also support their marketing campaign.”
The CIPC, according to him, is also tapping banking institutions for financial assistance to lantern-makers. We also provide training on product development, like packaging, and we include the lantern industry in investment priorities, he added.
For Yutuc, the lantern industry is in its plateau stage.
“Kung hindi tayo mag-go-go, hindi tayo susulong,” he added. “Kahit anong produkto ’yan, kahit anong personality ’yan, there’s always a room for improvement.”
For Paras, he will continue running the business handed down to him by his uncle, whether government support exists or not.
“Masaya kasi, lalo kapag sumasapit ang Pasko. Masaya dahil nakakapagbigay ka ng tuwa sa mga kababayan mo,” Paras said. “Masaya kasi nakikilala nila ’yung bayan mo, at kasama ka sa pagpapakilala sa kanya. [It’s very satisfying, especially when Christmas approaches. We’re happy because we know we make our compatriots happy when they see our lanterns. We’re happy because people get to know our place, and that we help in promoting our place],” Paras said.
- Danica Mae M. Lacson is striving to secure a degree in journalism from the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications. Lacson’s edited article is reprinted here with permission from her lecturer.