By Fung Yu
Contributor

Author’s Note: This article uses virtual reality technology to provide an immersive experience. Adobe Flash 10 or higher is required to view the 360-degree VRs. Average VR size is 2.5Mb each.

BEING a predominantly Catholic nation, the Philippines is host to ‘endless’ religious festivals and celebrations. Next to Christmas, the Lenten season, which falls either on March or April, is celebrated throughout the country.

Conventionally, this is a 40-day affair representing the time, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.

The traditional purpose of Lent is to prepare a believer–through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial–for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Saturday. The six Sundays in Lent are not counted among the forty days because each Sunday represents a “mini-Easter,” a celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

Why is duman an expensive rice delicacy?

One pati equivalent to 1.8 kilogram of the very young grain of duman sells for P2,500 or $40. To know about the process of duman making and the state of this industry, we trooped to Sta. Rita, Pampanga.

Pampanga provincial tourism officer Ian Mejia said the existence of the duman-making tradition dates back to pre-Hispanic Kapampangan society.

He said Friar Diego Bernardo has mentioned duman in “Vocabulario de Lengua Pampanga” published in 1700.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

IS it possible to find in the Philippines a church like Vatican’s Sistine Chapel?

Yes. In the town of Guagua in Pampanga, one can find Betis Church.

Inside the Baroque-inspired church, one can be transported back in time by the ceiling paintings and wall murals that are comparable to the frescos of Sistine Chapel’s ceiling done by Renaissance masters.

Standing at the nave of the church, one can see the ceilings, walls and the retablo styled with paintings and murals of the Holy Family, selected scenes from the bible, Catholic saints and cherubs.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

Our search for the giant lanterns of Pampanga led us to Tatang Erning (real name Ernesto Quiwa), one of the most respected lantern makers in the province.

We found him in his home in Barangay Sta. Lucia, a few minutes away from San Fernando city proper. His home also serves as the base for his lantern-making business.

Tatang Erning, however, is more famous for his giant lanterns. He has been making them in time for the city’s annual Giant Lantern festival since the 1960s.

He is a fourth-generation descendant of the Estanislaos, one of the pioneering families who have been making lanterns ever since the “Ligligan Parul” began taking place in the 1930s.

[Read the rest of this entry »]