Santa Claus's legend spills to kids on Manila streets

Every child knows that Santa Claus enters houses through chimneys of houses and drops his gifts to children who have been nice for the whole year.

But how will the legendary figure – used often by parents to encourage their children to behave well – deliver his goodies to kids without homes, let alone chimneys?

For now, nobody knows how the jolly fat guy also known as Saint Nicholas or Saint Nick will do it.

One thing is for sure though – street kids who never experienced living in a modest house much less one with a chimney want to make Santa Clauses out of everyone. They do so even if they only have a vague idea of who Santa Claus is.

They say that Christmas is for children and one will have a hard time disputing that in the busy, Christmas lights-filled streets of Metro Manila.

A few days before Christmas, several children wander around the streets, singing off-key Christmas carols with mangled lyrics and handing out envelopes for a few coins.

Among them is a group of shabby street kids and three middle-aged persons who sat in front of a convenience store in Pasig. They wore crooked smiles on their faces, proudly displaying stain-filled teeth.

The four children, whose ages ranged from five to ten, used their dirty little hands to beat improvised instruments made of cans and PVC pipes as they merrily greeted pedestrians "Merry Christmas."

It is likely that the children are not from Manila because they could not understand Filipino well. Their adult guardians had to translate some of the questions addressed to them.

When asked if they knew Santa Claus, the children, who never had a formal education, appeared clueless. They, however, knew how he looked like.

When asked where they saw him, the six-year old boy who introduced himself as "Adjurai" reached for the pocket of his tattered shorts and held up a small greeting card. Sure enough, the card had a picture of a smiling Saint Nick.

The picture did not look like Nicholas, the saintly bishop of Myra whose love for the poor served as inspiration for the legends about Santa Claus. In lieu of bishop vestments and staff, the Saint Nick in the card wore red suit with black belt and carried a bag full of gifts, an image consistent with how he was depicted by popular imagination.

Admitting that he is not sure about his answer, "Adjurai" said that he believes that Santa Claus exists because it was he who brought Christmas to the world.

While he has not received any gift from Santa, "Adjurai" remains hopeful that he will get one soon.

He believes that Santa has not given him any present because he had been a bad boy.

When asked what gift they want to receive from Saint Nick, the children replied in unison: "Pera (money)."

"Kahit magkano lang (Any amount will do)," added "Astrani" after promising that he wouldd be a good boy every year.

"Kahit limang piso lang (Five pesos will do)," the little girl, who refused to state her name, said.

It remains unsure whether someone has seen Santa Claus delivering a gift inside a house.

But as long as there are people who are willing to share their spare coins (despite the government's appeal not to encourage begging), he will continue to exist in the imagination of the street children.

"Basta totoo (I am sure he is for real)" Astrani said.