Gulf-Based Filipinos Keep Undas Traditions Alive Through Prayer, Food, and Video Calls

MANILA — Separated from traditional cemetery visits and family reunions, Filipino workers across the Gulf countries marked Undas on Sunday through personal rituals of remembrance, lighting candles, offering prayers, preparing food, and connecting with relatives back home via video calls.

Undas, encompassing All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2, remains one of the Philippines’ most significant observances. Families traditionally tidy and adorn gravesites, present flowers, and offer prayers to honor their ancestors.

Despite the distance separating them from their hometowns, overseas Filipinos strive to uphold the customs of their respective regions and ethnic communities.

Salvador Cabanilla III of Antipolo City, who has worked in Saudi Arabia for nearly two decades, observes atang, the Ilocano practice of making food offerings to the departed. Every October 31, he prepares his parents’ favorite kakanin, or rice cakes, arranges them beside their photographs on a table, lights a candle, and offers a prayer.

“I also play their old videos and look at their pictures to remember the happy moments we shared. It’s my way of reliving those memories,” he told Arab News. “I was really close to both my parents.”

He later joins his relatives by video link as they visit the cemetery in the Philippines. “I join them through video call, and we talk, share stories, and laugh together. That’s usually how I spend Undas,” he said.

“Ever since Facebook became available, that has really been one of the ways we’ve stayed connected. My father passed away in 1997, and my mother passed away two years ago. Whenever I’m in the Philippines during this time of the year, I never miss going to the cemetery,” he added.

For Ronald Manengo, an accountant based in Alkhobar, his observance of Undas shifted following his mother’s passing in 2016.

“I started doing things differently. I have a picture of my mom with me. I would buy flowers from a flower shop, then set up an altar with my mom’s photo in my room. That’s where I place the flowers and light a candle,” he said. “Before, I simply joined my family virtually. But now, I also have a physical offering here.”

After his father’s photograph was added to the altar in 2022, Manengo expanded the tradition by setting aside funds for grandparents, aunts, and uncles on both sides of his family. He remits money to the Philippines so relatives can maintain graves the family can no longer visit regularly, continuing the practice his father once carried out.

“The most important thing for me is still being part of the tradition to remember our departed loved ones, to show them that we love them even though they’re no longer with us,” he said.

In Kuwait, Maria Nina Del Mundo has not returned home for Undas in the 12 years since she began working abroad. Living in Salmiya City with her own family, she observes the holiday in the customary Filipino manner—attending church Mass, preparing rice noodles and kakanin, and lighting candles in memory of their elders.

“They would tell us: ‘Even when we’re no longer around, continue lighting candles and remembering us,’” she said. “It has become part of our way of life. Even though we’re now far from home, we still make time for our departed loved ones every Undas.”

Raymund Recamades, who works in Kuwait while his family remains in the Philippines, commemorates the occasion with his housemates.

“The people I live with have become my family here. And we still continue that part of the tradition, especially preparing food,” he told Arab News. “We prepare whatever food our departed loved ones used to enjoy. For example, my grandfather loved adobo, so that’s what I cook. Others prefer traditional Filipino rice cakes or kakanin.”

Like the others, Recamades relies on technology to bridge the distance. “I tell them that even though I’m not physically there, the only way I can feel like I’m with them is through a video call,” he said.

“Undas is not just about visiting the cemetery. What’s most important is remembering the love and the lessons our departed loved ones left behind,” he said.

Source link