In just a few days, the world will be celebrating Christmas in very different ways. Here in the Philippines for one—the country known for having the longest holiday celebration—the contrast from Christmases past is truly very stark.
Unlike before, cities and homes hardly glitter with holiday décor; malls aren’t crowded with the happy buzz of shoppers; and the usual parties and reunions aren’t allowed, when all these sights and feels should have been afoot as soon as the ber-months began. Sadly, the global crisis that is the Coronavirus Pandemic has not let up in the last nine months, with the newly approved vaccine only being given to volunteers this past week.