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Gift-Giving Filipino Style

Known worldwide as Secret Santa, Filipinos of course, have their own take on the tradition of giving gifts to randomly picked recipients.

Called monito / monita (little boy / little girl, in Spanish), the practice has two slight variations in the Philippines. In the first version, participants are asked to bring a gift based on an agreed upon amount. The gifts are then raffled out among participants during their Christmas party and distributed accordingly.

The second version is a bit more spread out over a long period of time. All of the participants fill out a piece of paper with their names and place it in a box. After everyone finishes putting their name down, all participants then draw one piece of paper from the box and whoever each of them get will be that person’s monito or monita.

Afterwards, each person has to give their monito / monita a gift every day or every week (depending on the group). Traditionally, each gift has to follow some sort of rule or theme. For example, the theme for the gift for one day could be something sweet (so options would include candies, brownies, or fruits), then the following day, it can be something round (oranges, stress balls, decorative coins). Some more common themes used by people are the following:

• Something sour (sour patch candies, tamarind, green mangoes)
• Something bitter (green tea, ampalaya, coffee)
• Something soft (cotton candy, stuffed toys, stocks / stockings)
• Something long and hard (ballpens, flashlights, French bread)
• Something red (clothes, apples, coke in can)
• Something green (clothes, grapes, green cross alcohol)
• Something wet / moist (wet wipes, hand sanitizers, wine)
• Something made of wood (pencils, desk organizers, back scratcher)
• Something made of glass (mirrors, picture frames, sunglasses)
• Something colorful (beaded jewellery, boxes of crayons, fashion accessories)
• Something big (oversized shirts, big piggy banks, giant teddy bear)
• Something small (stickers, cuff links, pendant)
• Something that starts with a B (Baseball, Banana, Balloon)

Part of the fun (in addition to getting loads of presents) is in trying to figure out who picked out your name, as the revelation is reserved until the hand over of the last gift (usually during the Christmas party).

The practice has its roots in Northern Europe, particularly in Scandinavia where they have a tradition called Julklapp (Knocking Christmas, in English). In the olden days, Scandinavians used to give each other presents on New Year’s Day and would just give small token gifts to each other during Christmas. In time, the practice evolved in such a way that the giver would try to keep her / his identity a secret by knocking on the door, tossing in their gift, and running away before they can be recognized. Sometimes, gift givers even utilize goats to deliver their gifts anonymously.

Moreover, gift givers would on occasion hide their real gift inside something of a lesser value. For example, they might put jewellery inside a cake. Another quirk they would employ is wrapping their gifts in multiple boxes. To them, the more time that they spend trying to unwrap their presents, the more fulfilling it is and the more in line it is with their unique spirit of Yuletide.

The practice of Secret Santa is of course called different names depending on the country it is practiced in. In Ireland, it is known as Christkindl (Kris Kringel). In Austria, it is called Engerl-Bengerl. In the Dominican Republic, it is named Angelito. In Germany, it is known as Wichteln.

With the advent of the internet, the tradition has evolved accordingly. The practice has become increasingly popular in online communities. This is especially useful for groups who are unable to meet in person to draw names from a box. And so, there are now websites that specialize in this type of service. There are even online communities where people can participate in gift giving without actually knowing the person for whom one would buy a gift for or from whom one would receive a present.

Most interestingly, citizens in New Zealand are organizing a nationwide Secret Santa event. So far, about 4,000 people have signed up to take part in this massive undertaking. In a tweet she sent out in late November, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden confirmed that she was indeed among the 4,000 who will be participating in the country wide event. To be honest though, it must be pretty intimidating to have to get a present for one’s head of country.