Last year, I featured the Panunulúyan (or Panulúyan in short) on this blog. This is one of the cherished Filipino traditions during the Christmas season, modeled after Mexican traditions that we Filipinos adopted to the local landscape. But I observed this year a noticeable blend with the realities of our society today while keeping the spirit of hope in the Lord.
For this year, I traveled a hundred kilometers south of the capital Metro Manila to Ibaan, a small town in the province of Batangas, for our annual holiday visit with our family and some of my friends in the province.
The Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. James the Greater, a Spanish colonial-era church founded in 1832, is the main focus of this blog. Every Christmas Eve, its youth organization, the Joseph Marello Youth (JMY), hosts the annual nativity play before the Midnight Mass of Christmas. This was my third time watching this play after gaining interest to do so in 2023.
Overview
This is an excerpt from last year's blog with some modified parts.
Panunulúyan is modeled after Las Posadas, a tradition which originated in Mexico. According to a report by the late Alejandro Roces on The Philippine Star, Las Posadas is a novena which parallels with our very own Simbang Gabi in terms of dates. In Mexico, each night, children would look for houses, acting as "inns", in search for lodging. However, in the Philippines, Panunulúyan is an hour-long play, dramatizing the events leading up to the first Christmas in Bethlehem.
It is performed in various provinces and schools, as well as some Metro Manila parishes. The journey of Joseph and the pregnant Virgin Mary in search of lodging is re-enacted by youth groups, from the Annunciation to the Visitation, from Joseph’s dream to the events leading to Bethlehem and the visitation of the Three Kings. Other churches would host a chorale concert a few hours before their respective Midnight Masses.
In Ibaan, Batangas, the Panunulúyan is performed as a musical play, where the main characters would sing on most occasions. One of the cast members (and an acquaintance of yours truly) confirmed this to me in an exclusive pre-show interview with her.
Cast composition
 |
| A picture of most of the cast of this year's Panunulúyan, taken during the curtain call. |
The Panunulúyan in my provincial hometown consists of the following:
- Main and supporting cast (of course!)
- Dancers
- Speech choir (know more about it here)
- Main choir (for the singing of supporting chants)
- Little angels
Partial list of main casts
The first three performers previously performed in 2024.
- Jhanna Angela A. Reyes – Mary
- Manuel Niño A. Buenafe – Joseph
- Rose Ann C. Sanggalang – Elizabeth
- Aerron R. Baja – Archangel Gabriel
Synopsis
Organizers decided to start the Panunulúyan an hour and a half earlier than last year, following the decision to also advance the Midnight Mass also by the same time duration. And despite the clear weather outside, they decided to hold it inside the church. Additional seats were placed outside due to the expected overflow of devotees for the Mass.
Introduction
 |
| A dance presentation opens this year's nativity play. |
The drama play started at 18:36, an hour after dusk. The show opened with dancers in front and a man holding a lamp as he made his way down the aisle. A dance performance then ensued.
 |
| Actors depicting a mother and a young child push a cart down the center aisle of the church. |
A mother and a young kid then push a kariton, in which the narrator describes as "full of memories, dreams, and hard work." They don't have a physical home, which mirrors the difficult life of poor families and victims of natural disasters. But before they would push the cart, the speech choir comes out amid the sound of thunderstorms. They then introduced us to the story and what to anticipate during it.
The mag-ina then pushes the cart down the aisle, mirroring the lives of the mangangalakal on the streets. They then stopped at a makeshift home, where they prepared to settle down after a long day "outside".
King Herod and the Three Kings
 |
| King Herod and the three Kings |
The scene then folds into King Herod. When he learned that a new king would be born, in a furious tone, he claims that he would forever be the "King of the Jews". The young kid suddenly became scared, but his mother assured him that the Lord will never abandon them.
The Three Kings (or the Biblical Magi) then enters the scene. They refer to themselves as "coming from the East" to follow the Star of Bethlehem. After convincing King Herod, he tells them to look for the Holy Child.
This scene is a new addition to JMY's yearly Panunulúyan. In previous years, this was notably absent despite King Herod being part of the events leading to and after the Nativity of Jesus.
Annunciation and Visitation
 |
| The re-enactment of the Annunciation Narrative |
Mary, portrayed by Jhanna Reyes, then enters the stage as she joyfully goes near the audience in front. The Archangel Gabriel, portrayed by Aerron Baja, then appears from behind. There, Gabriel sings a quote from Luke 1:28, addressing it to Mary. They then exchange the ensuing dialogue from the Biblical Gospel in the form of singing.
 |
| Mary and Elizabeth depicting the Visitation |
Elizabeth (portrayed by Rose Ann Sanggalang), Mary's cousin, then comes out. They then exchanged another musical dialogue to depict the Visitation, which occurred three months after the Annunciation. After a short-spoken dialogue from Mary, they both hug each other. The music fades in to the Magnificat, where three female dancers holding candles on their hands then danced in front, followed by three male dancers accompanying them.
 |
| A special close-up of Mary and Elizabeth in this beautiful scene as they walked towards my seat. |
At this point, Mary and Elizabeth then walked down the aisle and went to a temporary raised square platform, located just near our seat. They then walked back after a moment as the next scene was about to fade in.
Joseph and his dreams
 |
| Joseph holds three sheets of plywood to depict him as a carpenter. |
 |
| In Joseph's dreams, the Archangel Gabriel tells him to take Mary into his home. |
Joseph, portrayed by Manuel Niño Buenafe, then comes to the same squared platform with three sheets of plywood and a hammer, depicting the earthly father of Jesus as a carpenter. After a tired day at work, he rests at an elevated stage as the Archangel Gabriel appeared to re-enact the Gospel narrative according to Matthew 1:20-22, where Gabriel appeared to Joseph in his dreams. When Joseph decided to quietly divorce Mary, Gabriel tells Joseph to bring Mary into her home. According to scripture, he did what the angel told him.
The speech choir was back to announce the transition from Nazareth to Bethlehem. At one point, they covered themselves in a large veil.
The long search for lodging
 |
| Mary and Joseph walk down the aisle in search for lodging. |
 |
| Mary and Joseph, in this photo, is seen standing on the squared platform during their search. |
 |
| A scene of one of the home's owners shooing Mary and Joseph away from a "house". |
At 19:02, Mary and Joseph began walking down the aisle in search for lodging. Mary then sings a chant as they continued walking. They then stop at the squared platform as Joseph sees a light from a "house" and calls on Mary to join him. They then request the first owner to let them in, she denies them despite Mary insisting to, because the owner has a guest inside. After another short dialogue, they rouse the second owner, but they were told that all of his guests were sleeping and they were disturbing them. And despite Joseph begging for mercy and elaborately explaining their current state, they were forced to journey again.
 |
| One of the moving scenes of this year's Panunulúyan was the dialogue of Mary and Joseph and the grieving mother. |
The mother from the previous scene then reprised, explaining her former life in the seaside before her house was damaged by a strong typhoon. It featured an emotional monologue about losing her child due to the typhoon. I heard a familiar date mentioned in the story: November 8, 2013, which was the day when Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Super Typhoon Yolanda, made landfall in Eastern Visayas, killing thousands and devastating cities and towns in the region. Learn about my 2023 visit to Leyte and Samar through these links: Part 1 and Part 2.
This is when the realities of society connect with the story of Christ's birth. Mary exchanges a dialogue with the mother, saying that her son is a remembrance of light, her emotional wounds mirror courage, and Christ's birth gives hope to the world.
Born in a manger! (and concluding scenes)
 |
| Another dance presentation took place in the lead-up to the immediate scene following this: the birth of Jesus. |
Little angels then came in the elevated stage in front as Mary and Joseph remained at the squared platform with a few more musical chants. The thunderstorm effect marked the beginning of Mary and Joseph as the former was about to give birth. Another dance number blends in before the image of the newborn Jesus was unveiled to the public. The Three Kings then entered the scene and explained each gift they would present to the newborn King: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
 |
| Mary is seen holding an image of the newborn Jesus. |
 |
| Mary and Joseph then took turns in holding the image of the newborn Jesus. |
Mary and Joseph then took their own turns to hold the image and sing a chant related to the nativity. Soon after, the mag-ina then reprised their roles and had a last exchange of dialogues before the concluding narration.
 |
| One of the concluding scenes of this year's nativity play. I heard that the entire team took a month to prepare this amazing, wonderful, and elegant performance. |
An eight-minute performance from the dancers then followed before the final curtain call culminated the presentation at 19:51, after an hour and 15 minutes.
My comments (and sentiments)
In a critical point of view, I would say that this was a noticeable improvement over last year's partial fiasco (where it was held outside, later interrupted due to inclement weather). At the time, lighting effects were absent when organizers decided to continue the play inside the church, causing a somewhat plain and toned-down presentation. But this year, they added mood to the entire show because organizers planned to permanently conduct the Panunulúyan inside the church.
Moreover, the inclusion of a homeless woman and a child in this year's play was rightly timed, since 2025 has been defined by numerous disasters and a large corruption scandal that made Filipinos suffer in endless floods caused by substandard and "ghost" projects. Countless victims lost their homes from these disasters, just like the moving story of the young man and his mother that almost made me cry.
Overall, I rate this show not a perfect five (like last year), but an unusual rating I would give to a show: 11 out of 10 points!
I also have some personal sentiments on this. I was there not only because I wanted to watch it, but I came over to support Jhanna Reyes, who starred as the Virgin Mary for her second straight year. She was previously part of the 2023 cast when she portrayed Elizabeth. Due to obvious reasons, however, I can't post our picture publicly. Why I mentioned her in this blog? Because during the Senakulo last April, I got a chance to personally interview her, and she told me that she saw me when she portrayed the same character in last year's Panunulúyan. And that's when we got to finally know each other. In an exclusive pre-show interview, she told me that she is not that good in singing (since this year, the main characters have a singing role, unlike previous years when they don't), but when she sang, I felt goosebumps.
I really enjoyed this show, and I'll continue actively supporting the Joseph Marello Youth organization in my provincial hometown. Congratulations to them and its overall director, Mark Justine R. Mendoza!
This has been a challenging but great year, ka-travelers. Thank you for your continued support on this blog and my YouTube channel. From yours truly, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Cheers to a prosperous 2026!
For more updates, visit my blog site and subscribe to my YouTube channel, Enzo's Travel Journals!
Comments
Post a Comment