If there were one subject barrio people loathed in discussing, it would be about the dead. Call it part of religion and folkways so that when someone would pass away, the concern was how to inter the body, which should not be beyond three days.
In the barrio, the family of the dead had two choices for the place of burial, the Catholic Cemetery and the Municipal Cemetery. Dying was a tabooed topic; probably the man to be buried would not mention his place of final rest. It would be for the living to make the choice. So, interment would take place and the size of the crowd would depend on the financial and social status of the departed, his popularity, position held, plus other factors.
After burial, visits of relatives to the cemetery would become less frequent as time went on. Time was the reason and not a diminishing of affections.
By tradition and social custom, the departed ones would be remembered during the All Saints Day on the first day of November each year. This day on all probability would be a declared national holiday to give the working population ample time to visit the final resting places of their departed loved ones.
A day or two before this holiday, the cemetery would receive a good sprucing up. Weeds would be removed and burned, tombs would be painted for whitewashed, mausoleums cleaned, and over-hanging branches of trees nearby trimmed. The cemetery would be full of people helping in making the place presentable and pleasant in many different ways.
On this day, the earliest to arrive at the old cemetery would be the vendors who would sell candles, flowers, soft drinks and food items. Then, people from all walks of life would come bringing with them the floral sprays, fresh flowers, candles of assorted colors, shapes, and sizes, and even food. Candles would be placed atop the tombs and graces and lighted as relatives and friends would gather around. Others in their respective places may bring their own chairs and radio for convenience, while others would have big umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, or in certain instances, sudden downpour.
In the cemetery, many new faces would appear after a long absence. Most of these indigenous people had left the town and settled elsewhere. But in spite of their having grown their roots in other places, they would always come to visit the graves of their loved ones at that time of the year. Out-of-town visitors cold easily be singled out among the rural crowd; they would fashionably attired both for men and women, very often, these visitors would be riding in flashy motor vehicles.
By mid-morning, the local parish priest would come with his entourage and would bless the resting places of the departed loved ones. Before noontime, the whole place would have been covered. Contributions would be lavishly collected.
During the whole day, many people would be coming and leaving the cemetery. For once, the dead became the focus of attention by the living. All the souls must be happy, both of the dead and the living. There must be a big reunion somewhere.
In the early evening, there would be a band serenade honouring the souls of the departed. The music band of the barrio, as well as individuals would serenade the residences. Carrying a lighted candle, a young boy would sing appropriate limericks about the souls of the departed. Cash or cake might be extended to the serenaders. On the other hand, the band would send notices to the families to be serenaded. Cash in envelopes would be given to the bandleader.
Group serenaders would go from house to house and they would refuse cash donations, only drinks or cakes. As they would be singing, a member would be stealing the chicken of the house owner. The following day, the serenading group would cook the chicken and the owner would be invited for the big meal. After the meal the chicken owner, would be informed. To date, no chicken owner had misgivings on a tradition, which he himself had participated. All was well that ended well.
The following morning, a mass would then be held at the cemetery honouring the saints in heaven. Attendance would be fair. From the words of the parish priest, what was celebrated on November 1st was All Soul’s Day, and that All Saints Day was in reality on November 2nd. So, something went wrong somewhere but tradition was tradition and could not be changed at all.
After the mass, the crowd would leave the cemetery, which the day before was full of people. After the last individual had left, the cemetery would be empty again. One could hear only the singing of crickets in the trees, and the rustle of the leaves as the wind would blow. It was like the silence of eternity with all those buried in silent eternal sleep.
In the ensuing weeks, the busiest man would be the cemetery’s caretaker for he would be cleaning and tidying the place of dead of the trashes left by the living.
