HALLOWEEN: PINOY STYLE

ALL ROADS LEADto the cemeteries...... TODAY, being the 31st of OCTOBER, all trek up to prepare and be with their dearly departed. ALTHOUGH sometimes, most people "overdo" it this celebration is one of the "must" for Pinoys all over. THIS have been handed down to us since the days of the Conquistadores. BUT Pinoys have that knack of changing celebrations to suit their tastes, hence most, if not all, have turned this religious celebration into one that looks like a circus.There are beers by the cases and mahjongs or pusoy for the masa,not to mention the loud "music" [I call it noise!] that litter the scene non-stop. One wonders whether thay are in some alley disco house or in some beer joints that have littered some avenues. THERE are tents erected to 'house' the family members who opt to stay near the grave and lots of food to feast on. Less and less, I believe, pray for the repose of their dearly departed's soul. BUT what I remember most in my childhood was the day after. The neighborhood youth [oh, yes! there were older men, believe me....] who'd "steal" something from just anybody just for fun. They call it 'PANGANGALULUWA". They were the "spirits that roam around on that night to make fun of the living"....so they say.... ONE can see their flower pots or an old table,"sampayan", old bikes, "papag", simply anything! piled up one after the other at the center of the street and atop will be the 'steal' of the night: an underwear flying like Camelot's colors. OF course, none of the ladies would own up to the lost underwear....but most residents accept that prank as part of the neighborhood's way of celebrating that 'PANGANGALULUWA" tradition. AFTER sometime, these things would be retrieved by the owners and the night prowlers would be justifying their deeds as something done "just-f0r-fun".... OF course, these prowlers are led by someone responsible for the actions of its members.They must "steal" something that wouldn't be deemed as violation of the Law but done for the sake of fun, ONLY. I remember my Nanay reminding all of us to keep all things locked inside the house lest they be "stolen" by the spirits roaming around at night.Even then, something somewhere would be liable to be "stolen".... THOSE were the days...when the community was one and people who live in the neighborhood knew each other..... NOT anymore. Pinoy society have become more and more strangers to each other: among family members, stranger even to the next-door neighboors.Try going to elite neighborhoods/villages and you'll know, feel and see. AND there were stories of "manananggals"or the "aswangs tiyanak, kapre, nuno-sa-punso" and more....that made us shiver and peeon the sheets beause we, kids, feared these creatures even as we refuse to go to the toilet in the middle of the night. AH....the days of old....days I also miss because most of those people around me then have already gone ahead....to the Land where no pain and problems no longer exist.... THESE next three days, I'd light candles and prayfor my relatives who have gone ahead: "ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO THEM, O LORD... AND LET YOUR PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM. +AMEN." 05.10.31