Speak of Simbang Gabi and one thing comes to mind: FOOD of which the bibingka (rice cake) and puto bumbong are two popular fares associated with this religious activity, or with Christmas, even if its available all year round. These are usually found just outside the church gates and after mass, people stop to buy. However, while these two are true for those living in Metro Manila and probably in the Tagalog region, it is not traditional in my home province of Cebu.

The tongue of road jutting out into the sea in Cordova is a must visit place for a stunning view of Cebu City.

To any visitor either of the two bridges connecting the small and flat Mactan Is. with the main island of Cebu, provides a breathtaking look of the metropolis from an elevated position and thus a bird’s eye view of this booming and beautiful city in the south. The structures might not be as extensive and as tall as in Metro Manila, but this province can well hold its own.

All Soul’s Day is anticipated on 1 November. While many already visit their dead during the day, it is during the night that this traditional event gets spectacular as the light of a thousand candles and bulbs make cemeteries luminous and dazzling. Add the multitude of people and it becomes a truly memorable event.

While some are making last minute travel back to their home province (or probably vacationing at the beach), the first day of November sees cemeteries across the country already abuzz with visitors. In Cebu City, the Calamba Cemetery is one of the biggest in the province and also an opportunity to soak in this time honored tradition.

Honoring one’s dead is an age old tradition among Asians. In the Philippines, it is the deep reverence and respect for ancestors that define one of Catholicism’s celebrations, All Souls’ Day marked every 2 November. Like Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) sans the pageantry, it’s a very festive occassion. Flower markets are also very active as people descend to buy bundles of blooms to be offered to their departed.

Cebu doesn’t have the impressive colonial era cemeteries of Iloilo. There’s no ornate polygonal cemetery chapels like that of San Joaquin, Cabatuan and Janiuay. However, it does have its own camposantos that would also delight lovers of these heritage structures.

I’ve been thinking about doing this series for quite a time and so, with the end of the Cuyo Loop and as a fitting segue from my short sojourn in Masbate, I might as well feature my home province as seen from the perspective of a native son. Ahem. That might be a tall order but I’ll try. I promise, no dried fish market in Taboan. No guitars. No mangoes. No Malapascua and other known beaches that have been hogging other blogs and websites. And most of all, no cliched Taoist Temple hackneyed to death with images.

Every October, the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City is filled with pilgrims and devotees for the feast of the Nuestra Senora del Rosario, La Naval de Manila. For more than three centuries this event has been celebrated by the faithful as, like most Filipino Catholics, thanksgiving, a plea for divine intervention or affirmation of faith.

“Everyone in the household, relatives and friends come out to do and assist in the preparations for the big day.” I do admire the community spirit of the Lucbanins and this is best displayed in the run up to the Pahiyas festival. Everyone in the household as well as relatives and friends come out and do the preparations as well as assist others. During this time, what remains is just the mounting of the decor and doing finishing touches.

“The Pahiyas decorations are really stunning and the variety seems to be infinite!” What a riot of colors, an assemblage of all sorts of produce and exuberant display of creativity! The Pahiyas decorations are really stunning and the variety seems to be infinite that as one passes through the different houses and stalls, one is just struck with awe, amused and entertained.

“The kiping, thin, delicate and edible rice crackers is the festival’s identifying decor.”15th of May and the best place to be is nowhere else but in Lucban, a town in northwest Quezon bordering Laguna where the annual harvest festival, Pahiyas, is in full swing. Multicolored kiping, thin, delicate and edible rice crackers, in the shape of a leaf decorates windows, doors and just anything else on the house’s exterior is its most identifying decor.

Busuanga Is. in the Calamianes group in northern Palawan is an adventurers’ and divers’ paradise because of its natural wonders, world class dive sites, beaches and (stunted) African wildlife in Calauit. But coming in from Puerto Princesa via a plane is another traveler’s treat: the wild and domesticated environment as viewed from the aircraft’s window.

The ritual is akin to ancient death rites where the body of the village chief is bathed, smoked and prepared for the afterlife. Paete, a lakeshore town in Laguna is famed for its woodcarving industry even before the Spanish era. The town’s woodcarvers have graced the various grand churches, houses and museums here and abroad.

During Holy Week, the town becomes one of Filipino Catholic folk religion’s pilgrimage areas, although not many know it.

Amidst the backdrop of Makati’s high rise towers, a rich religious tradition has survived. Done yearly at the periphery of the country’s financial district, the almost 80 year old Senakulo (Cenacle) has been played out in the vicinities of what is now Brgy. Pio del Pilar alternating in Evangelista and Washington Sts.

The week prior to Holy Week, the street is blocked, to the chagrin of drivers and commuters, and a big stage is set up.