The Philippines Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow
It’s National Hot Chocolate Day! Kapampángans’ own traditional hot chocolate is a popular Christmastime beverage prepared by mixing pure cacao with a traditional whisk! SUKLATI • (sook-LAH-ti)chocolateTagálog (Filipino): tsokoláte EtymologyFrom Spanish chocolate, from Classical Nahuatl chocolātl You may want to read: Suklating Batirul
Sapatus Did the Three Kings leave gifts on your shoes last night? Filipino children traditionally believe that the Three Kings would bring gifts to them on Three Kings’ Day! So they bring out their polished shoes and place them on the windows or under the Christmas tree on the eve of Epiphany for the Three … Read more
On this day in 1867, the Father of Kapampángan Literature was born in Santa Ines, Bacolor, Pampanga, whose pen name was used to name one of the most well-known Kapampángan literature forms today. CRISSÓTAN • (krih-SOH-tuhn)a poetic joust or debate done in verse with rhyming. A form of Kapampángan literature named after Juan Crisostomo Soto, … Read more
Simbul Here’s a rarely used and unique Kapampángan word that refers to a ray of light from a star, like that of the star of Bethlehem that led the Three Kings to Jesus’ birthplace! SIMBUL • (sim-BOOL)ray or stream of light from a star (such as that from the Star of Bethlehem that guided the … Read more
DUMARA • (doo-muh-RA’)Philippine wild duck (Anas luzonica)Tagálog (Filipino): papán Possible EtymologyFrom Sanskrit ढामरा (ḍhāmarā) “goose” You may want to read: Bugok