From One Door to Another: How ‘Buenas Paskua’ Keeps Christmas Alive in Kalibo”

By: John Dela Cruz

KALIBO, Aklan- There is a line from the musical Fiddler on the Roof that quietly echoes every Christmas morning in Kalibo. When asked how a tradition began, the answer is simple: “I don’t know.” And then comes the meaning—it shows our constant devotion to God. That’s tradition.

In Kalibo, that truth lives not on a stage, but in the streets.

After the Christmas dawn Mass, young children begin to gather in small groups. They walk from house to house, stopping at gates and doorways, calling out with bright voices, “Buenas Paskua!” Doors open. Smiles follow. Coins are placed into tiny hands. Candies, food, and simple gifts are shared. What seems small to some becomes unforgettable to a child.

This is not written in any ordinance, not announced on social media, and not organized by anyone in authority. Yet it happens—year after year—because people believe in it. Because families before us did it, and because the joy it brings is reason enough to continue.

Today, the children often come in droves, now joined by parents and grandparents. The streets fill with generations walking together, reminding everyone that Christmas is not only about celebration, but about presence—being there for one another, even for a few moments at the doorway.

For those visiting from outside Aklan, the tradition may raise questions. Why do children go house to house? Why do families open their doors to everyone? The answer is never technical. It is faith made visible. A Catholic community expressing devotion not through grand gestures, but through open homes and open hearts.

No one remembers exactly when Buenas Paskua began. And perhaps that is the point. Traditions endure not because we can explain them, but because they carry meaning—linking faith, family, and community in ways words cannot fully capture.

On Christmas morning in Kalibo, as children’s voices echo through the town, we are reminded that devotion does not always speak loudly. Sometimes, it simply knocks on the door and says, Buenas Paskua.

And we open—because that’s tradition.