The 2009 U.P. Lantern Parade

I was a U.P. student for eight years – four as an undergrad and another four as a law student. I have experienced the lantern parade both as a participant and as a mere observer. But last December 18 was the first time I attended the annual event with my family – the first time that everyone was free from school and work.

We made plans well ahead of time. As a former student, I was well aware that the academic oval would be off limits to vehicles a few hours before the parade started so I checked. I wanted to make sure that we could get in so I called up the U.P. Police Force to ask what time traffic would be rerouted. Two o’clock, I was told. A little after noon, we were on our way.

We entered the campus a little after one o’clock. We hadn’t had lunch so I figured why not make the most of the day by visiting old haunts? We had lunch at Chateau Verde; coffee and dessert afterward at Chocolate Kiss. Then, we found a convenient parking space. It was time for a first view of the lanterns that were starting to be transported to the assembly area.

We walked. And it was a long walk. And the feeling is indescribable. To walk under the same old trees. To step on the same pavements. To see the same buildings and some new ones too… Because we wanted a vantage point for taking photos, we positioned ourselves right behind the administration building where the lanterns would stop for the judging.

I’m not one to get affected by the blast of Christmas carols in department stores and supermarkets. I’m not one to feel the Christmas spirit by listening to newscasters make the daily countdown to the big day. But when the U.P. administration building suddenly seemed to float amid the choral rendition of traditional Christmas carols, it really felt like Christmas.

After two hours, the first lantern came into view. It was marvelous.

Not only because of the visual feast but for the overwhelming nostalgia that only a U.P. alumnus can feel. The lanterns were paraded, one after the other, amid cheers and much heckling, and the only thing I could think of was how the lantern parade was my idea of a real festival. The competitive spirit was there, all right, but the desire to win remained untainted by the all-too convenient strategy of seeking sponsors to raise enough funds to come up with drop-dead gorgeous lanterns.

That thought took me back to 2007. In Baguio City. At the Panagbenga Festival. We went there for the same reason that we went to the U.P. Lantern parade last December 18 – to experience the event as a family and to take photos, a family obsession. We expected to see flower-laden floats and we saw a lot of them. But we saw more than flower-decked floats. At the Panagbenga, floats are sponsored by corporate businesses. In the parade, not only are the floats preceded by streamers bearing the name of the sponsor, the corporate logo of the sponsor often figured prominently in the float too. And something really jarred.

Of course, the goal of the Panagbenga is entirely different from that of the U.P. Lantern Parade. The Panagbenga is not only about competition but also about marketing the city to tourists, local and foreign. But what is often forgotten is that marketing a city to tourists means capitalizing on the natural attractions of the place. It is the soul of a place, after all, that makes it unique. And when the soul vanishes to give way to the presence of corporate businesses, then, something is wrong. And that was how I felt while watching and photographing the floats during the 2007 Panagbenga Festival – that they were more of a showcase for big business than a representation of Baguio as a city of flowers.

But that was not the worst part. Because 2007 was an election year, there was a float for senatorial candidates. Tessie Oreta and Ed Angara were throwing down t-shirts and candies to the crowd that jumped and elbowed and jostled to catch a few items. And the scene made me think of lords and ladies, señors and señoras, throwing crumbs and alms to the poor. And there was Mike Defensor in a pink shirt on horseback. I wanted to barf.

Last December 18 in U.P. while watching the lantern parade, I thought about all that. And I felt proud that the same kind of corporate and political trash has not marred the annual Christmas festivities (we didn’t stay for the announcement of winners but up until the last set of lanterns from the College of Fine Arts, I didn’t see business logos nor candidates for the 2010 elections). And I felt even more proud that, true to its traditions, the idea of a beautiful lantern in U.P. in not merely about its visual appeal but, more so, the social relevance that it represents.

Many of the lanterns had environmental concerns…

… and political issues for their themes.

The delegation of the U.P. Babaylan, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (lgbt) students’ organization, with the flamboyant costumes was especially memorable.

How much longer before the U.P. Lantern parade is polluted by the kind of garbage that has spoiled the Panagbenga Festival? Forever, I hope. But state funding, essential to maintain high academic standards, has been a perennial issue in U.P. Most are aware that the university has signed a contract with Ayala Land for the development of a techno park in what used to be a sprawling idle land, owned by the University, along Commonwealth Avenue. What the long-term effects of U.P.’s business ventures will be, no one knows.