How do we celebrate THANKSGIVING DAY in the Philippines?

How do we celebrate THANKSGIVING DAY 

in the Philippines?

US Thanksgiving Day Celebration   

Fourth Thursday of November 

November 27, 2025

Researched and organized for avrotor.blogspot.com  

TATAKalikasan AdMU Radyo Katipunan, and Usapang Bayan 

radio programs, by Dr Abe V Rotor

Do we celebrate Thanksgiving in the Philippines?
No, Filipinos do not traditionally celebrate Thanksgiving as a public holiday, though many have adopted it as a cultural tradition, blending it with Filipino customs. While American Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday of November, Filipinos often celebrate a similar concept of "pasasalamat" (giving thanks) around any significant milestone, such as graduations, homecomings, or exams. When celebrating American Thanksgiving, they may incorporate Filipino dishes like lechon or pancit into the feast. AI Overview-Internet

 

Filipinos often celebrate a similar concept of "pasasalamat" (giving thanks) around any significant milestone, such as fiestas, birthdays, graduations, homecomings, anniversaries and other occasions.

(Acknowledgement with gratitude: Internet Photos)

Ever since the pilgrims, Americans have celebrated days of thanksgiving, but until 1863 there was no one day of the year that people thought of as

thanksgiving day.

Sarah Josepha Hale who wrote the nursery rhyme, "Mary has a Little Lamb," thought there should be. Starting in 1827, she wrote to every president, urging him to establish one, but no one listened until Abraham Lincoln, after the victory at Gettysburg, issued a proclamation setting aside the last Thursday of November as a day to give thanks for the survival of the nation.

US Thanksgiving Day marks the end of the American Civil War

The American Civil War was the culmination of the struggle between the advocates and opponents of slavery that dated from the founding of the United States. This sectional conflict between Northern states and slaveholding Southern states had been tempered by a series of political compromises, but by the late 1850s the issue of the extension of slavery to the western states had reached a boiling point. The election of Abraham Lincoln, a member of the antislavery Republican Party, as president in 1860 precipitated the secession of 11 Southern states, leading to a civil war.

The Union won the American Civil War. The war effectively ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The final surrender of Confederate troops on the western periphery came in Galveston, Texas, on June 2.

It is estimated that from 752,000 to 851,000 soldiers died during the American Civil War (more than all US soldiers combined who died in WW1 and WW2 and other wars America was involved, including Vietnam war*). This figure represents approximately 2 percent of the American population in 1860. The Battle of Gettysburg, one of the bloodiest engagements during the Civil War, resulted in about 7,000 deaths and 51,000 total casualties.

Reference: Who was Abraham Lincoln? By Janet Pascal, illustrated by john O'Brien, Grosset & Dunlap 2008; Internet

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. Date: Thursday, November 28, 2024; Observed for: 403 years

As an American colony from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines celebrated Thanksgiving on the same day as the United States. Internet Photo 

President Manuel Quezon even declared it an official local holiday in 1935. Commemoration paused during the Japanese occupation, although locals still celebrated secretly. The tradition returned during the administration of former President Marcos, who even moved the date to September 21. It ended after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

Today, though Thanksgiving is no longer an official holiday in the Philippines, many Filipinos celebrate it as a cultural tradition. Some restaurants even create special menus featuring classic dishes, like lechon or roasted pig* in lieu of turkey.. Internet

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Let's set an official Thanksgiving Day in the Philippines for Filipinos to look forward for peace and unity, security and stability.  It is a date to rally the people to save our country from corruption and disintegration, hopelessness and Bahala Na syndrome. Thanksgiving is a goal to celebrate as a nation, not only personal and isolated celebration. Not an aftermath of undefined "victory", but a purposeful achievement. and glory. - AV Rotor