For this holiday season, the San Juan City Hall will become a dazzling spectacle of lights and dancing mannequins in a Yuletide-themed village reminiscent of the cherished Christmas-on-Display formerly mounted at the Greenhills Shopping Center.
“We’d like to continue a beloved tradition that many Filipinos had looked forward to for more than a decade of Christmases by staging the COD show right on our grounds,” said San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez.
For Gomez, it is also a fitting Christmas gift to San Juan residents as her final term winds down early next year. The mayor had sought out the Rosarios, the family that created the COD show in 1957, to bring the decades-old holiday attraction to the City Hall.
“When I look at the display, I cannot help but feel nostalgic and hopeful about Christmas. It is a feeling I want to share with our people when they stroll at the City Hall grounds this holiday season,” said Gomez.
Themed “Paskong Pinoy,” the COD display highlights well-loved Filipino Christmas traditions that include family reunions with sumptuous feasts, Christmas carols, colorful lanterns, a variety of merrymaking activities and a fervent prayer.
The grand display also features some of the city’s iconic landmarks such as the Pinaglabanan Church and the City Hall itself.
Alongside the COD show, the city government is also opening its grounds for a night market that will feature over a hundred stalls for shopping and dining.
“When we were conceptualizing the display, we wanted something that will make families go out and visit so they can be together for the holidays,” said the mayor. “I’m certain that even our balikbayans will enjoy the display, and perhaps wax nostalgic about celebrating Christmas here in the Philippines.”
The COD show is set to be launched on Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. To make the occasion more special, some 300 children from the city’s daycare centers will be invited to watch the inaugural presentation. The attraction will be open to the public from Nov. 23, until Jan. 6, 2019.
“Hosting this event is a way for the local government to spread the holiday cheer. We can be grateful for our respective families for staying together,” says Gomez. “We also want to express our gratitude to our constituents as we look forward to next year,” she adds.
The COD display started out more than 60 years ago as a gimmick by Alex Rosario to draw customers to the family-owned department store, Manila COD (Cash on Delivery) on Avenida Rizal in Manila.
After nearly 40 years at Araneta Center, the COD animatronic display transferred to the Greenhills Shopping Center, which hosted the attraction for over a decade before it was discontinued in 2016 to give way to development in the area.