This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.(August 2023) |
Location | San Fernando, Philippines |
---|---|
Coordinates | 15°03′01.4″N120°41′33.6″E / 15.050389°N 120.692667°E |
Opened | 11 December 1990 |
Owner | Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority |
Theme | Christmas handicraft Northern Luzon culture (formerly) |
Operating season | Year-round |
The Paskuhan Village, officially known as the Philippine Christmas Village [1] also known as Hilaga, is a Christmas-themed park located in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. It is operational all year-round and is under the management of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.
Jesus Lazatin formerly owned the land that the Paskuhan Village is now on. Lazatin sold the land to the Philippine Tourism Authority (now the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority or TIEZA) in 1989 so that it could be utilized to showcase crafts the lantern-making tradition of San Fernando, Pampanga. [2] The theme park was conceptualized by then Pampanga Governor Bren Guiao, then Tourism Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez, and then-Center for International Trades, Expositions and Missions Director Mina Gabor [3]
Opened on December 11, 1990 by then president Corazon Aquino, the Paskuhan Village is meant to showcase small and giant lanterns and other Christmas-related items as an effort to support local craftsmen and entrepreneurs. An "Environmental Consciousness Week" was held at the park in March 1993 to promote environmental awareness, with proceeds directed toward the Pinatubo Trust Fund and the Bahay Pag-Ibig nursing home. [4] During 1998, then First Lady Amelita Ramos decided to recreate the village as part of the "Florikultura '98" project of the Department of Tourism, but soon the year after the plants withered and died. [5]
Paskuhan Village also served as the venue of the Ligligan Parul or the Giant Lantern Festival from 1990 until 1998. [6]
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo as well as the establishment of shopping malls in Pampanga contributed to the decline of Paskuhan. [2] The Ligligan Parul festivities was moved to SM City Pampanga in 2000 and to Robinsons Starmills sometime after 2007. [6]
The Department of Foreign Affairs used to host a consular office which issues passports in Paskuhan until 2002. Paskuhan was converted to the North Philippines Cultural and Historical Village in 2003 which showcased the culture of the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Cordillera regions. [7]
The Pampanga Mayors' League issued a resolution as early as 2009 to start the process to come up with an agreement with the Department of Tourism to acquire management and jurisdiction over Paskuhan. [8]
As of 2012, the Village is financially distressed and all shops, restaurants and other features were practically closed, with a budget of only 800 thousand pesos a month and only 24 workers left. By that time Paskuhan has discarded its Northern Luzon theme. [5] The Commission on Audit in a 2012 circular advised TIEZA to rehabilitate, privatize or handover the facility to the local government. [2] Also in the same year the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (lit. 'Provincial Council') of Pampanga filed a resolution to establish a branch of Casino Filipino within Paskuhan, a plan opposed by the religious sector, militant organizations, and a parents and teachers association. [1]
Four SM Group affiliates (SM Development Corp., Premier Central Inc., SM Prime Holdings and SEJ North Premier Holding Corp.) and Robinsons Land Corp. engaged in an open bidding for the purchase of the Paskuhan Village on December 17, 2014. [1] The Pampanga provincial government earlier has also offered to buy the facility at book value [8] or at least acquire administration and operational rights over the property three days earlier. The San Fernando city government also filed a counter proposal to the bid initially contested among five firms. [1]
Premier Central Inc. won the bid and purchased two lots of the Paskuhan Village in May 2015 so that the facility could be redeveloped. However the Village fell to further neglect due to a sales dispute. [2]
House Resolution 654 was filed by Pampanga Third District Representative Aurelio Gonzales Jr. which called for the investigation on Paskuhan's sale. [9] The sale to Premier Central was declared void on October 2, 2017 by Solicitor General Jose Calida. [10] The Committee on Good Government And Public Accountability of the House of Representatives recommended the nullification of the sale for violating the Tourism Act of 2009 which prohibits the sale of state-owned cultural treasures and heritage sites. [2] The body also cited their findings that the right of first refusal entitled to the local governments of Pampanga and its capital city San Fernando was ignored. [8]
Following the void of the sale of Paskuhan to Premier Central, San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago urged in October 2017 for the revival of the Paskuhan as a Christmas-themed park and the return of the Giant Lantern Festival to the venue although plans of the city to acquire the property is still being deliberated at the time. [8] As of July 2020, majority of Paskuhan Village property was given back to the local government of San Fernando. And in February 2021, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the former site for the construction of a Giant Lantern Festival-themed tourism and information center. [11]
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, Manila Bay to the central-south, Bataan to the southwest and Zambales to the west. Its capital is the City of San Fernando. Angeles City is the largest LGU, but while geographically within Pampanga, it is classified as a first-class, highly urbanized city and has been governed independently of the province since it received its charter in 1964.
Lubao, officially the Municipality of Lubao, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 173,502 people.
Angeles, officially the City of Angeles, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 462,928 people.
San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando, is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 354,666 people.
Bacolor, officially the Municipality of Bacolor, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,066 people.
The Giant Lantern Festival is an annual festival held in mid-December in the City of San Fernando in the Philippines. The festival features a competition of giant parol lanterns. Because of the popularity of the festival, the city has been nicknamed the "Christmas Capital of the Philippines".
A parol is a Filipino ornamental lantern displayed during the Christmas season. Parols are traditionally constructed using bamboo and Japanese paper, and are illuminated with candles, oil lamps, or carbide lamps. Modern parols can be made using other materials such as plastic, metal, and capiz shells and are usually illuminated with electric lighting. Its most-common form is a five-pointed star, although it can come in various shapes and sizes. Large disc-shaped electronic versions of parols produced in Pampanga are known as "parul sampernandu", the phonetic spelling of parol San Fernando, owing to the city where these lanterns are a major product.
Holy Angel University is a private Catholic research university in Angeles City, Philippines. Founded in June 1933 by Don Juan Nepomuceno and Fr. Pedro Paulo Santos, who was later named as the Archbishop of Cáceres, is considered the first lay-founded Catholic school as well as the first co-educational Catholic high school. With a student population of over 21,000, it is the largest private institute of education with the largest student population in a single campus in Central Luzon.
San Fernando Train Station is a former railway station located on the North Main Line in Pampanga, Philippines. The station was the site of a stopping place for Filipino and American prisoners of war during the Bataan death march in 1942. It is currently being rebuilt as part of the second phase of the North–South Commuter Railway. As part of the project, the old station will also be preserved. The old station is a historical landmark in the city.
The Pampanga Sugar Development Company built the first Filipino-financed sugar central in Pampanga, Philippines. It was established in 1921 by several local families in Pampanga. It is the oldest running mill in the province.
Vivencio Baron Cuyugan Sr. was a Filipino politician, boxer, and one of the founders of the socialist guerrilla group Hukbalahap. He was born in San Fernando, Pampanga, to Saturnino Pamintuan Cuyugan and Antonina Yutuc Baron. He studied in the United States where he supported himself through professional boxing and became known as the "Big Brown Filipino." He was appointed Municipal Vice-President of San Fernando in 1927, and later elected to the same position in 1931. He was later elected the first Municipal Mayor under the Philippine Commonwealth, the first socialist mayor of the Philippines. Together with Pedro Abad Santos, he was among the co-founders of the Socialist Party of the Philippines.
Eduardo "Among Ed" Tongol Panlilio is a Filipino former Roman Catholic priest and Governor of Pampanga from 2007 to 2010. He was suspended from his priestly duties upon announcing his intention to run as governor. He was elected governor in May 2007 in a three-way race against incumbent governor Mark Lapid and provincial board member Lilia Pineda. In February 2010, following a recount of votes due to an election protest, the Comelec ruled that Lilia Pineda had won the 2007 election over Panlilio.
San Guillermo Parish Church is a Roman Catholic church in Bacolor, Pampanga, Philippines. Named after San Guillermo, the town's patron saint, the church was originally constructed by the Augustinian Friars in 1576 – also the town's founding – with Padre Diego de Ochoa, OSA, becoming the town's first parish priest two years later.
Genesis Transport Service, Inc., is a provincial bus company in the Philippines, operating routes connecting Metro Manila to Central Luzon and Northern Luzon.
The Paskuhan is the culmination of the university wide Christmas activities of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. The annual tradition started in 1991. The programs of Paskuhan were held during the last week or last day before the Christmas break of the university. In 2014, however, because of the change in the academic calendar of the university, it was scheduled in the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 2014. It was later rescheduled to December 11, 2014, because of Typhoon Ruby.
Jose Abad Santos Avenue (JASA), also known as the Olongapo–Gapan Road and the Gapan–San Fernando–Olongapo Road, is a two-to-thirteen-lane 118-kilometer (73 mi) major highway spanning the provinces of Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Zambales in Central Luzon, Philippines. The highway is designated as National Route 3 (N3) of the Philippine highway network.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Central Luzon is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus reached Central Luzon on March 9, 2020, when the first case of the disease was confirmed in San Jose del Monte. All provinces in the region have recorded COVID-19 cases. As of August 14, 2022. Central Luzon has 376,747 cases with 6,995 deaths.
Lilia Garcia Pineda, also known as Nanay Baby, is a Filipino politician who has been serving as Vice Governor of Pampanga under her son Dennis Pineda since 2019. She previously served as Governor of the province from 2010 until 2019 as Mayor of Lubao from 1992 until 2001. Pineda was a close ally of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the latter's presidency from 2001 to 2010.
Metro Clark, also known as Metro Angeles or Metro Clark Angeles, is an urban area in Pampanga, in Central Luzon, Philippines. It is primarily composed of three cities and further supported by 9 municipalities. Its urban core consists of the cities Angeles, San Fernando and Mabalacat. It is a major urban area of the Philippines and is considered the industrial and residential center of Central Luzon.
Media related to Paskuhan Village at Wikimedia Commons