How to greet 'Happy New Year' in Tagalog

 

So it's going to be New Year's Eve soon.  We will be saying goodbye to this very challenging year, 2020.  We went through a lot of challenges, beginning from Taal Volcano's eruption that displaced a lot of families from the Cavite and Batangas areas.   Later on, the entire world was paralyzed, by the covid19 pandemic.  Millions got afflicted with the covid-19 virus.  Economies suffered, businesses closed up, people lost their jobs.  Problems just piled up.  Here in the Philippines, we had to brave three successive typhoons.  These typhoons were very destructive.  Agricultural lands lost their harvest, a lot of property were lost and broken during the destructions of the typhoons.  It seems that there was no end to all the challenges that we were facing.  Typhoon after typhoon, crimes and all...sigh...  

But here we are celebrating the holidays.  We made it to Christmas (Pasko)  Did you greet someone with Maligayang Pasko (Merry Christmas)?  

So after celebrating Pasko (Christmas) naturally, what would come next is the New Year's Day celebration.  The grand finale of all is the 'medya noche' or the New Year's Day Feast.  Families gather around a meal to greet the New Year.   Tables will be filled with all the goodies and traditional NYD food preparations.  Here in the Philippines, tables should have 13 kinds of round fruits.  So the lady of the house would be busy collecting all 13 kinds of round fruits days before the 31st.  In addition, there should be something sticky and sweet, signifying harmony and family togetherness.  

Well, how does one say Happy New Year in Tagalog?  Here it is:

Happy New Year!

Manigong Bagong Taon! 

Go ahead and practice it.  Say it to at least 5 people on New Year's Day and then congratulate yourself after.