On Thursday and Friday this week, cemeteries and memorial parks all over the Philippines will be filled with families and individuals visiting the final resting places of their loved ones. From the most humble gravesites to the most plush mausoleums, the dead will be remembered by their surviving relatives.

The burial sites serve as a reminder of our mortality. One day, we too will pass away.

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day were originally holy days in the Roman Catholic Church’s calendar, but both were adopted by Filipino culture into occasions that went beyond reminiscing and/or remembering those who have passed on.

It is sad to note that religion has been pushed aside, and in its place is the commercialization of the occasion.

The air in and around the cemeteries and memorial parks will be festive. There will be drinking, gambling and loud music playing. Candles may be lit and flowers placed atop gravestones, but eventually the same spots will be turned into picnic sites. The only thing missing will be carnival rides.

Indeed, it will be hard to differentiate the day Filipinos refer to as “Undas” from the fiestas celebrated every summer. Merrymaking will be the order of the day. Or the two days, to be precise. Because now November 1 and November 2 are part of the long weekend when schools and offices will be closed and a large number of residents of the metropolis will head for their respective provinces, ostensibly to pay their respects to their relatives who have gone to the Great Beyond.

In most of those provinces, the same commercialization that has encroached on the resting places of the dead in Metro Manila will likewise be apparent. Only in the predominantly Muslim provinces will there be a semblance of normalcy in those two days.

Because large numbers of people congregate on the sites, big and small companies will have no qualms about conducting marketing activities there. Anything from condominiums to cars to cell phones to ice cream will be offered for sale.

And if this were not bad enough, some candidates and/or their supporters will take the opportunity to make themselves visible to the men and women at the cemeteries and memorial parks. After all, anyone who looks like an adult will most probably be a voter.

Halloween parties
The political activities will not even be the worst of it. Because now, the distinctly non-Filipino holiday of Halloween will also be part of the festivities this week.

It is almost ridiculous how costumed Filipino kids will go trick or treating in some villages just like their counterparts in the West.

Decades ago, this Western holiday was celebrated in the exclusive villages of Makati City, which had a large number of expatriates as residents. It could be considered as quaint, even amusing, but it was something that had no place in Philippine culture. Or so it seemed. Now, it seems that wearing costumes and knocking on doors asking for treats is also done in middle class subdivisions and villages, and not just the enclaves of the rich.

Halloween parties will also be held on October 31, and even adults will be wearing costumes. We have to ask: What does this have to do with All Saints’ Day?

From where we sit, the answer is—nothing. Absolutely nothing. At least, in another predominantly Roman Catholic country like Mexico, during the Dia de los Muertos, prayers are still offered for the eternal peace of the dead, even as adults and children don masks and costumes as part of the celebration.

The day is still dedicated to the dead. It is still a religious holiday.

Still important
Todos los Santos remains an important holiday for the Filipino people despite the creeping commercialization of the past few years. This is because of the family reunions that take place in the cemeteries and memorial parks.

In many cases, the gatherings last for many hours.

Those who have moved on will be happy to note that they have not been forgotten, and in fact they are remembered with happiness. The annual visits to their final resting places is a tradition that has only grown stronger through the passing decades and centuries.

They may be absent in body, but not in spirit. The picnics and mini-parties thrown at their gravesites tell them that love for blood kin never dies.