A creative Christmas

The First Lady, Liza Araneta Marcos, personally invited me and my family and group to a Dec. 10, 2023 dinner and ballet presentation at the Mabini Grounds of Malacañang. “You’ll enjoy the performance,” she texted, to follow up her invitation. “Promise.”

LAM later vibered the program from Alice Reyes Dance Philippines and the delectable menu from Florabel – pritchon, squid ball, palabok, chicken empanada, pork BBQ, pandesal with ham and kesong puti, puto bumbong and bibingka, dalandan juice and hot chocolate.

True to LAM’s promise, the “Puso ng Pasko” palace presentation was the best Christmas program I have ever watched. The dance sequences were fast-paced, robust and thrilling, executed to perfection, in synch with the lilting melodies of Pilipino Christmas carols.

Truly, the Philippines has a rich and deep artistic and creative heritage. The Filipino was born to dance, sing, jump and enjoy. LAM has taken upon herself the herculean task of promoting the Filipino creative industries.

Sunday’s ballet presentation in Malacañang was also the first “day of freedom” for President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., after five days of isolation following a bout of nasty COVID.

“What a wonderful way to start my life back into the normal world away from isolation, with this ‘Puso sa Pasko’ celebration that we are having tonight,” he gushed.

“Our Christmas,” the President exulted in Pilipino, as he peeled off his mask, “is unique, wherever you go. I have experienced Christmas in various places (countries), it is no match to our celebration.”

“As a friend of mine has once said, ‘Filipinos celebrate Christmas like we invented it.’ And I think he was right,” Bongbong Marcos smiled.

Promoting the Philippine creative industries is one of the anchor programs of President Marcos Jr., along with achieving upper middle class status for the Filipino, sustainability and digitalization to achieve inclusion.

BBM wants to bring the Filipino culture to the international market because culture “is the way we define ourselves.”For that, “the government is a genuine and reliable partner,” Marcos Jr. assures.

In the post-pandemic era, the President has noted, the use of new technologies could