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Christmas, more than any other occasion throughout the year, always brings Filipinos home – wherever or whatever home may be.

To some, it’s the most joyous time because we get to spend it with our loved ones.

It’s deeply rooted in our culture – a time to bridge distances or simply catch up with family members.

Even overseas Filipinos save their hard-earned money to make the trip back home and be with their families here in the Philippines.

To many OFWs, especially those who toil in distant lands, the allure of spending Christmas back home is the one thing that kept them going throughout the year as they fill their balikbayan boxes with gifts, each item a testament to their love and longing.

In the Philippines, the concept of family and home is perhaps stronger than in most places across the globe.

Such closeness is magnified a thousand times during Christmas because Filipinos love celebrations and togetherness.

Filipino families won’t hesitate to spend so much – in good times and bad –just to have a Noche Buena feast.

It’s the reason our tables are always filled to the brim on Christmas Eve dinners or the traditional Noche Buena.

Homeless

But it’s not the same for everyone or every family.

On Christmas Eve, on my way home for Christmas dinner, I saw several homeless families on the road, gathered on the cold pavement as their young ones moved about and around them.

They shared among themselves some food and snacks, unmindful – just this one time – of the cars that stop when the traffic lights are red. On any other day, they would flock to the cars to beg for alms – but even the homeless and the beggars take a break on Christmas Eve.

It’s a sad and poignant scene. How I wish there were no homeless in our country and that every Filipino family could have a home to come home to instead of the cold pavement.

After all, isn’t this a right accorded to each and every one of us by our Constitution?

Article XIII, Section 9 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution says: “The State shall [make] a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas.”

Providing housing for the urban poor, however, is tricky, say experts.

For instance, how can the homeless who live on a hand-to-mouth existence afford even subsidized residential properties?

The government, on the other hand, cannot afford to give free housing to its citizens. In fact, across the globe, very few countries have done it, such as South Africa and Colombia.

Others have had successful subsidized or low-cost housing and integration programs.

But here in our corruption-ridden country, we have yet to come up with a successful program that would truly address the housing backlog.

Even the Marcos administration’s housing program is facing challenges.

Home alone

I think of these homeless families especially because I see them often on my long drive home every day.

But I think of them especially this Christmas season, reminding me of my fervent hope to see a better Philippines for everyone in this nation of more than 120 million.

On Christmas Day, as I write this, I also think of those who spend Christmas all alone because their children have all left the family home or their spouses have died.

A regular reader and letter sender of mine, for instance, is a senior citizen who lives alone. He spends holidays alone, too, with his cats.

His wife passed away some years back and the idea of going abroad to be with his children does not seem to appeal to him. His children have built their own homes outside the country. Perhaps, he dreads the long trip.

Or maybe he got so used to spending his senior years only with his wife and now that she is gone, he would rather be alone.

But this isn’t necessarily bad. Some people find joy and contentment in solitude.

Families

What is perhaps heartbreaking is if we totally forget the seniors in our family, whether it’s Christmas or not.

Growing old is challenging enough. To be forgotten or neglected, especially during the holidays, must be even more difficult for them.

My heart goes out to the seniors and empty nesters who brave the loneliness, especially during this Christmas season.

Families evolve and so do the celebrations, as children grow and leave home. Some gatherings become somber, just like this year’s rainy Christmas weather. Some homes become empty as the kids grow and do things on their own.

There’s no stopping time, after all.

All that we can do is to give our children all the love that we can give while they are still with us.

Hopefully, in our very own homes, we nurture compassionate, kind and loving humans and in the process, we are able to change an entire generation, an entire nation and the world – one family at a time.

As for the seniors among us, let’s help make their remaining time on earth even just a bit better by checking on them once in a while, but especially in this time of festivities.

Here’s wishing everyone happy holidays.

May the lights of the season lead us back home today and always.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.