All Soul's Day is a Catholic day of remembrance for friends and loved ones who have left for their heavenly abode. All Soul's Day has its roots in the ancient Pagan Festival, belief that the souls of the dead would return for a meal with the family, that’s why the practice of lighted candles kept on cemeteries and on houses’ stairway or windows is to guide the souls back home. Children knock on doors in “dead” costumes asking for food, treats, candies, offered symbolically to the dead, but then distributed them among the hungry.
The Aztecs of Mexico played a very important role in the development of celebrating this tradition. Mictlantecuhtli the Aztec god of the dead, after a person's death will decide what region their soul would go to depended on the type of death rather than the type of life they lead. The Spanish Conquest of Nueva España (Mexico) brought about an amalgamation of the Catholic attitudes and Aztecs beliefs, since Mexico was given the power to be the Viceroy of Spain’s colonies in the Americas and the Philippines, “Todos los Santos” became a big part of the Filipino culture.
Most Filipinos go to cemeteries or as our old folks called them “pantion” (came from Romans “pantheon”) to clean, decorate and spend the night or more at their loved ones grave. Filipinos followed the pagan custom of lighting up candles, offer flowers sometimes food and say prayers for the souls of the departed. The oldest cemetery in Manila is “Cementerio de Binondo” located at the foot of the hill of the arrabal of Binondo (hence the old name Binundok or Minundok as Chinese called their place), the place was referred to during the Spanish colonial days “Paang-Bundok” eventually called “La Loma” meaning “the hill” in English. The hill makes up the cemetery complex of Cemeterio del Norte, the Manila Chinese Cemetery and La Loma Cemetery.
During the Spanish colonial period the cortes warned Filipino that once they joined the Katipunan, they will be denied to be buried in Catholic cemeteries on the consecrated ground and also denied of what then was considered a "decent" burial in their time of death. Hence members of Freemason who died without retraction of their affiliation, Chinese and non-Catholics resulted into cremation which the Catholics Church then condemned cuz the doctrine said that the soul needs its material body during the last judgement.
Tan Quien Sien an illustrious Chinese leader and businessman during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade who choose to be baptized Catholic took the name of his Spanish godfather Carlos Palanca so he can lived/stay in Binondo, eventually became the gobernadorcillo of Chinatown. Gobernadorcillo Carlos Palanca (Tan Quien Sien) established the first Chinese consul in Binondo, the first Chinese General Hospital, he also built near his hospital the Manila Chinese Cemetery in La Loma as the resting place for the Buddhists Chinese, Masons who were denied burial in Catholic cemeteries during the Spanish colonial period.
- ka tony
the 15th of October ‘19
