TOMORROW, September 1, is the first day of the so-called “Ber Months” of the year.

To the Filipino people, including the millions of our countrymen who work and live throughout the world, it is the beginning of the countdown to Christmas.

The much-awaited Christmas season in the Philippines, the only predominantly Christian country in the Asia-Pacific region, is the longest in the world.

The onset of the “Ber Months” means the beginning of yuletide preparations, with business firms, notably shopping malls, offering discounts to get people in the mood for Christmas.

This early, “amoy Pasko na” in some parts of the country, particularly in the impoverished countryside, worrying politicians, who are known to be seeking local posts in 2022.

Reports said that many moneyed local politicians and their leaders have started attending baptismal and birthday parties, weddings, family reunions and even wakes.

Under the calendar of activities of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 9 polls is set from October 1 to 8.

Note, however, that during the “Ber Months” of September, October, November and December, there’s a health risk due to the shift from the dry to the wet season.

There’s also the onset of several common diseases such as dengue, leptospirosis, cholera, typhoid fever, influenza, allergic rhinitis, gastroentiritis and Hepatitis A.

Like in 2020, this year’s “Ber Months” may not be as exciting as before the dreaded and deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started terrorizing the Filipino people.

Pero ang mahalaga ay “amoy Pasko na naman sa Pilipinas simula bukas.”

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