Ottawa couple keeps Filipino traditions alive with lantern-making business

After migrating to Canada, battling cancer and surviving through the pandemic a Filipino-Canadian couple have defied all odds in life while preserving their culture.

Jemlyn, 79, and Melita, 76, immigrated to Canada in 2012 and have been making these lanterns ever since. The colourful star-shaped lanterns are used during Simbang Gabi, the religious nine-day observational period in anticipation of Christmas eve.

A staple in the Filipino culture, the Demegillos continued to make these lanterns every year and the more they did, the more their friends and neighbours began to notice. They eventually opened their own small business, making and selling the parols.

“When we migrated here in 2012 it was the first time I made two parols and now it’s still hung there on our porch,” Jemlyn Demegillo told CTVNews.ca in a video interview.

“Our Filipino friends saw the parol and then they asked me to make it for them and that was the beginning.”