Despite the Filipino life's difficulties, most families manage to celebrate the most important season of every year -- the Christmas holidays.
Believe it or not this news item says it all.
For better or for worse, families get together, eat, dine, celebrate Christmas Eve dinner (Noche Buena)and New Year's Eve dinner called(Media Noche).
"On New Year's Eve ("Bisperas ng Bagong Taon"), Filipino families gather for the Media Noche or midnight meal – a feast that is also supposed to symbolize their hopes for a prosperous New Year. In spite of the yearly ban on firecrackers, many Filipinos in the Philippines still see these as the traditional means to greet the New Year. The loud noises and sounds of merrymaking are not only meant to celebrate the coming of the New Year but are also supposed to drive away bad spirits. Safer methods of merrymaking include banging on pots and pans and blowing on car horns.
Folk beliefs also include encouraging children to jump at the stroke of midnight so that they would grow up tall, displaying circular fruit and wearing clothes with dots and other circular designs to symbolize money, eating twelve grapes at 12 midnight for good luck in the next twelve months of the year, and opening windows and doors during the first hours of the New Year to drove the bad and invite the good luck".
More information on Christmas and New Year traditions here.