Skip to content

Tag: All Souls day

Cemetequette

Published by Ellen on October 31, 2018
A cemetery scene in Valenzuela City. Photo from PNA.

Cemetequette is a term coined by environment- advocate EcoWaste Coalition for “Pinoy Cemetery Etiquette.”
Nov. 1 and 2 are Undas days for the predominantly-Catholic Filipinos. Undas is derived from the Spanish word “honrar” which means “to honor.”

Nov. 1 is All Saints’ Day when we honor the saints that we all go to for refuge and comfort in times of need. Nov. 2 is All Souls’ Day when we remember our loved ones who have departed.

As we troop to the cemeteries to observe this beautiful tradition, let’s make sure that we do our share in making life worth living.

Continue readingCemetequette

Mourning the lack of collective outrage

Published by Ellen on October 30, 2016

Jonas Burgos- Desaparecido
Jonas Burgos- Desaparecido

Every Undas or All Souls Day (Nov. 2) when Filipinos troop to cemeteries to remember departed loved ones, I always think of the families of desaparecidos.

Where do they go to offer flowers and light the candles for their dead whom they didn’t bury? I think of Edith Burgos, whose son Jonas was last seen on April 28, 2007 at the Ever Gotesco Mall. I think of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno who were last seen on June 26, 2006 in Hagonoy, Bulacan.

There are many more: Father Rudy Romano, a Redemptorist priest who served landless peasants and displaced settlers and the six workers of Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines namely Joseph Belar, Jovencio Lagare, Romualdo Orcullo, Diosdado Oliver, Artemio Ayala Jr. and Arnold Dangkiasan.

The list is long according to Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND).

Continue readingMourning the lack of collective outrage

Think about this when you go to the cemetery

Published by Ellen on November 1, 2013
Libingan ng mga Bayani
Libingan ng mga Bayani

A visit to the cemetery, which many of us will undertake starting tomorrow for our annual observance of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2) should humble us.

As France Charles de Gaulle famously said, “The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.”

Any sense of self-importance should be erased by De Gaulle’s reminder.

The much- respected Haydee Yorac, said the same when she was battling cancer and resigned to face her creator. She was confident that there will be no dearth of Filipinos who will continue her crusade for truth and justice. She consoled people,””No one is indispensable.”

Continue readingThink about this when you go to the cemetery

Ala-ala ng mga sumakabilang buhay

Published by Ellen on October 30, 2009

Bilang Kristiyano, naniniwala tayo sa buhay sa langit kapag namatay tayo dito sa lupa.

Hindi natin alam kung ano klaseng komunidad ang nandun sa langit dahil wala naman tayong nakausap personal na galing doon ngunit ako ay naniniwala na ang paglisan natin dito sa mundo ay hindi katapusan na ng buhay.

Noong necrological services kay Haydee Yorac, ang respetadong abogada na naging commissioner ng Commission on Elections at chairperson ng Presidential Commission on Good Government, sinabi ko na kapag panahon ko na, hahanapin so siya doon sa itaas.

Continue readingAla-ala ng mga sumakabilang buhay