Voltaire Tayag’s Christmas extravaganza: Carnivals at home and always giving back

Alexa Villano

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Voltaire Tayag’s Christmas extravaganza: Carnivals at home and always giving back

JOSE DYOWI CONTRERAS

For the 'People's Queen' host and pageant trainer, Christmas is always about giving back

MANILA, Philippines – Voltaire is known to many as a pageant writer.

Back in October, he added another laurel – host of the People’s Queen, a show that features 5 women undergoing pageant training. He shared hosting stints with Miss Supranational USA director Cecilio Asuncion.

Enter his condominium unit, and you’ll find he’s exceptional in even more things – setting up a mini Christmas carnival, among other things. It was a miniature Winter Wonderland as he turned on the lights for the session with photographer Dyowi Contreras, and gamely posed for photos.

WINTER WONDERLAND. Votaire's Christmas display is like a kid in a toy shop.

On one side of the apartment, there was his collection of Christmas-themed Barbie dolls. Of course, there were also Barbie replicas of Pia Wurtzbach, Megan Young, and Kylie Verzosa – Filipinas who bagged international beauty pageant crowns.

BARBIES. Voltaire fixes one of the Christmas -themed dolls in his collection.

But Christmas for Voltaire goes beyond the fancy decorations. It’s about giving back and reminiscing its true meaning – that of Jesus Christ coming in to the world.

“I’m happy I got to experience both Christmases [in the Philippines and the US]. In the States, it was all about our family. But then I remember growing up in Michigan, it would be -52 on the wind chill factor. And then we would go out to the midnight mass and you like have 3 or 4 layers of clothing.”

“And then you go inside and suddenly it’s so warm and you enjoy the Christmas music. It just felt very solemn and then you go back to your family and you just have your Noche Buena,” he said.

Voltaire said his favorite part about Christmas in the Philippines is the Simbang Gabi (midnight mass), adding that sometimes, he would go early to mass just to buy bibingka.

WHITE CHRISTMAS. Aside from the Christmas carnival, Voltaire's home is also decorated with white snow flakes.

Rappler catches up with our very own Voltaire Tayag to talk Christmas traditions – particularly the one that he finds most special. 

On his Christmas carnival

Voltaire: The Christmas village started because I got jealous because my mom had one. And the I told myself, maybe I should start my own Christmas village. But I didn’t want one that was like all houses and the typical Christmas village.

And then I told myself, hmm, I really like those carnival rides. So I built around the Christmas amusement park. And so, I just kept buying one at a time.

CARNIVAL. Voltaire's Christmas carnival village is like a show itself.

It’s so weird. A lot of the things…everything I do is really because it makes me happy. I never do things to either impress people or to show oh I have this. I always do things or create things or collect things that really just make me.

I was quite surprised when I posted this on social media, that so many people were interested in seeing it. And in fact, there are some people who got inspired and said “Oh I want to start my own also.” Sometimes, it takes just that one person to inspire you to do all these Christmas things. Because it’s really fun to decorate around Christmas.

Christmas in the US, the Philippines 

When I was adult and working in the States, there was a lot of political correctness. Do you say Merry Christmas, do you say Happy Holidays. Are you even supposed to greet them? There was a lot of that. It took out the joy of Christmas having to be politically correct to you officemates.

I think in the States as an adult, it really becomes an opportunity to be with your friends, with your family. It’s like a get together.  it slows people down. It’s also a time to reflect and also gives thanks to everybody as well.

On the church aspect, I really miss the Simbang Gabi when I was living there. The best that you could probably do is to go to a midnight mass. That’s when you would just feel the Christmas spirit. Other than that, you’ll just have to go through your everyday grind.

But here, especially since coming back here in 2006 and I was really active in my church group in Santuario de San Antonio, Christmas really revolved around Jesus, around the true meaning of Christmas, which extended to outreach activities.

TREES. Voltaire shows his mini-Christmas collection.

Making it count 

In the church, what we always do during Christmas, we would always go to either the Taguig City jail or the Makati City jail and we would have our own Christmas. We would bring one lechon per cell… so that they can really feel the spirit. Because one of the challenges that was given to me by Father Joel who was one of our parish priests, because I had to question why we had to go to the prisoners.

OUTREACH PROGRAM. Voltaire and the group from Sanctuario de San Antonio would spend time with a group of people either in a city jail or families for their Christmas activities. Photo courtesy of Voltaire Tayag

And then he said that our whole religion, Christianity revolves around the idea of forgiveness. And with the inmates, yes they did commit crimes and yes they’re sentenced and they have to pay for their crimes. But it doesn’t mean that they will be forgotten or neglected by society. They also have a chance to change like everybody else.

A lot of them have been abandoned by their families. Ni walang bumibiista sa kanila (Nobody visits them). And I can’t imagine waking up during Christmas morning and you’re in jail cell and your family doesn’t call you or visit you or they completely neglect you.

Some members of the SYA (Single Young Adults) Group of Santuario de San Antonio Parish with SYA Prison Ministry Heads RJ Limpo and Christine Jorolan during a Taguig City Jail Christmas Outreach.” Photo courtesy of SYA

His Christmas tradition 

My dad has been doing it for so many years when we were kids. But in 2006 when I came back to Manila, I felt that there’s something I can do, something more I can do. For 364 days a year, I’m able to think about stuff I want, things that I’ve worked for.

On Christmas, I don’t even think about my gifts. What we’ve been doing at about 5:30 am morning on Christmas Day, [we would] pack the van with toys, with candies, you know with food and drinks. And I would go around to certain parts of Metro Manila where I know there’s homeless. That’s why I go in the morning is because I want to go there before they actually wake up and start roaming in the streets. So when they wake up, I make sure I get to the kids to have their toys and make sure they boys have their trucks, cars, or badminton kits, while the girls have their dolls.

And for the adults, we of course give can goods all sorts of stuff. It never fails to amaze me how organized they are…they would fall in line and I would give the stuff out to them. And I would get all these inspiring stories from kids like there was one time, there was this young boy who was 8-years-old. I gave him a truck and then suddenly, he was requesting to change it to one of the dolls.

Then I asked why are you exchanging, why do you want a doll. Tapos sabi niya, ‘kasi po yung kapatid ko pong babae may sakit sa bahay. Gusto ko siya bigyan ng gift‘ (And he told me my sister is sick and is at the house. I want to give her a gift). That really touched my heart… It’s those stories that really that for me makes Christmas special.

 

 

The best gift 

You know it’s weird because of course, I can tell you the intangible stuff that I felt or been blessed with. I think a lot of us really do reflect on that and appreciate on those intangible things around Christmas. And that’s very important.

But for some reason, when I think of Christmas gifts, tangible ones, I would always go back to the time I think I was about 10 or 11-years-old, and during that time, my parents didn’t have a lot of money. And yet, they took us out to this discount toy store and they would still make us choose what we wanted. There were two things I got – a mouse trap [game], I had a mouse trap and a whole box of dominoes because I love playing dominoes. Not actually a game but where you will arrange them and pushes one and causes chain reaction.

I remember that because on Christmas Day, I would go to the house and go to the Christmas tree and be just looking at it. And that stands out in my head. I think it was because it was much simpler times.

SIMPLER TIMES. Voltaire says the gifts he remembered getting were a mouse trap and dominoes.

On the true meaning of Christmas 

I don’t want to sound cliche but I really feel that throughout the year, I’m given so much already. And on Christmas, I make sure I give back. Christmas to me is not about me or family traditions. It’s always about the inmates or the homeless.

The best gift you can give to God or Jesus on his birthday is really to put into practice charity and giving.

– Rappler.com

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Alexa Villano

Alexa is one of Rappler's Lifestyle and Entertainment reporters, covering local entertainment news to a wide range of topics from beauty pageants to reality shows.