All Saints Day
Cebu City, Philippines, November 1, 2003
Halloween (October 31) is not much celebrated in the Philippines. However, the subsequent All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) are important national holidays.
In 2001 I went to the Mantalongon cemetery with Ana and her family. This year I visited two cemeteries in Cebu City.
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Burning candles and incense created a smoky scene.
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Most bodies are stored in stacked crypts.
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Those with wealth are interred in more spacious graves.
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And the wealthiest get their own mausoleums.
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But as always in the Philippines, PEOPLE are the important thing!!
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There's a squatter settlement abutting the backside of the cemetery and as dusk aproached, squatters began to come in over the walls. They must be be the night-time denizens of this ghostly place....keeping company with the dead, who probably appreciate it, as in this crowded country people don't like to be alone.
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Main page of Chris in the Philippines again