IN celebration of Christmas, select barangay (villages) from Pasay and Manila tested their ingenuity and skills in a friendly, sustainable, original Simbang Gabi-themed Belen creation contest.

The three-dimensional art depicts the birth of Jesus Christ using natural materials, such as twigs and branches, leaves, bamboo, fiber, wood, sinamay fabric, corn husks, and coconut shells. The entries included elements reminiscent of the devotional nine-day series of Masses, like the image of the church, 'puto bumbong,' 'bibingka,' and 'banderitas' as design motifs.