I grew up without the frivolities or the eccentricities of Halloween parties. It is not because Halloween is unknown in my country, but it’s quite due to the fact that in many Philippine provinces, such peculiar merriments are just not observed. However, like many holidays, Halloween in the Philippines comes in various colorful idiosyncratic Filipino customs such as follows:

Halloween tradition # 1

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day

In the Philippines, November 1 is All Saints’ Day, a legal holiday and November 2 is All Soul’s Day, which is usually declared as a special holiday as well. During these days, Filipino families honor the memory of their departed loved ones. People go to memorial parks and cemeteries to visit the graves of their dead relatives. Such visits are a sort of homage to their loved ones who had gone to the hereafter.

Cemeteries, particularly public ones, really become places to reckon with during these days as they tend to be fully packed with people. Relatives from far-off provinces, or even abroad often go to the cemeteries where their loved ones were buried. The normally eerie silence of cemeteries turns into a raucous hubbub as people flood into their gates to pay respect to their departed loved ones.

Halloween tradition # 2

Halloween as a sort of family get-together

Halloween in the Philippines is a sort of family reunion where family members from far-off places would gather together in the graveyards of their loved ones and pay tribute to them in a picnic-like fashion, bringing and sharing foods and beverages. In private memorial parks where most of wealthy families have mausoleums, both children and adult family members, even stay overnight.

During my childhood in the province, we used to visit some of our relatives right after going to the cemetery. Some distant relatives would also visit our home during these holidays. And during these family gatherings, it is common to do some catching up on one another’s recent activities and achievements over some delectable native treats.

Halloween tradition # 3

Traditional foods usually prepared

It is also quite traditional for Filipinos in the provinces to prepare some native delicacies during All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. Even if we were not expecting any guests, my mother would always prepare holiday treats such as suman, biko, and champorado, among the most popular Filipino delicacies made from a sticky rice variety.

Other favorite treats include hot chocolate, sticky rice specialties such as palitaw, bilo-bilo, and kutsinta, and other famous Filipino delicacies like puto, guinataan, sapin-sapin, halayang ube, and a lot more.

Halloween tradition # 4

The provincial way of observing Halloween

I was raised in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur, a province in Mindanao which is located in the southern part of the country. I could still remember how we used to spend the first two days of November every year.

Like most families whose male members go to the cemetery a few days before November to clean the graveyards and paint the tombs of their loved ones, my father and two elder brothers would be the first to go to the cemetery too. They would bring a bolo, a can of paint, a paintbrush, a broom, washcloths, and other things necessary in cleaning the graveyards of our maternal grandfather (who died before my parents got married), and two of my brothers who died at birth.

My father and elder brothers would shear the grass and sweep the area surrounding the graves, and finally repaint the tombs whose paints had eroded during the past year. Then on the first and/or second days of November, we would take turns in visiting our loved ones, bringing candles and flowers to put on their graves.

Halloween tradition # 5

The modern urban celebration of Halloween

Although some commercial establishments in many provinces have their own interpretations of Halloween, it’s only here in Manila that I have experienced the typical trimmings of this occasion as observed in many large cities.

Malls that have emerged like mushrooms in the country’s premiere metropolis seem to act in a frenzied craze of sponsoring Halloween-related fun-filled events and activities such as Halloween sales, masquerade parties, trick or treat games, etc. Mall employees and service crew personnel also come in various Halloween costumes, and mall shops seem to compete with each other in showcasing idiosyncratic Halloween specials and effects.

Indeed, like in many cosmopolitan cities worldwide, the concept of Halloween is much commercialized in Manila and other popular cities across the country. Prominent residential villages, malls, and even schools, also hold their own versions of trick or treat activities and Halloween costume parties.

Halloween tradition # 6

Horror story telling

Most Filipinos typically indulge in sharing horror and ghost stories in many gatherings during Halloween season. Tales about haunted houses, ghost encounters, and supernatural beings such as kapre (tree-dwelling, tobacco-smoking giant), tikbalang (half-human-half-beast), engkanto/engkantada (enchanted beings believed to be dwelling in the famous Balete tree), and tiyanak (believed to take the form of a baby, but transforms into a small monster and attacks its victims) are prevalently shared among peers. Even television shows feature ghost stories, horror tales, and other specials pertaining to Halloween.

Indeed, Halloween in the Philippines comes in many colors and flavors. And various minority tribes living in different provinces have their own peculiar practices pertaining to this occasion too.