Nov 01, 2024 - 16:27
By manilatimes.net

Floods fail to dampen observance of 'Undas'

(UPDATE) DEVOUT Filipinos clutching candles and flowers poured into cemeteries across the country on Friday to pay tribute to loved ones on All Saints' Day.

Hundreds of thousands flocked to cemeteries in Metro Manila while others waded through floodwaters left by the deadly Tropical Storm Kristine to quietly pray and celebrate what has come to be known as Undas.

At Manila North Cemetery, 64-year-old Virginia Flores lit candles in front of her grandmother's «apartment,» the local term for tombs packed tightly together and stacked meters high.

SHE AIN’T HEAVY A woman carries a child on her back as she and others wade through floodwaters at the Sta. Ana Parish public cemetery in Bulacan to visit a dearly departed during the annual ‘Undas’ on Nov. 1, 2024. Floods hit several provinces in Luzon after Severe Tropical Storm Kristine dumped heavy rains in the region in late October. PHOTO BY ISMAEL DE JUAN

«This is my way of remembering her life and our shared memories when she was alive, so I visit her every year,» Flores told AFP.

Erlinda Sese, 52, was joined by her sister and grandchildren to offer prayers for their deceased loved ones.

«Even if they are gone, today is a reminder that our love for them will never fade,» Sese said as she gently laid a bouquet of white flowers on a tombstone.

BGen. Arnold Ibay, tasked with handling crowd control in the capital, said he expected almost a million visitors at Manila North Cemetery alone, where people had begun lining up before dawn to enter.

In Pampanga, people trudged through murky floodwaters to visit the submerged Masantol municipal cemetery.

The visitors were making the pilgrimage barely a week after Kristine unleashed landslides and flooding that killed at least 150 people and left more than a dozen missing.

«Visiting dead loved ones is very important to Filipinos. This has been our tradition and culture,» said 34-year-old Mark Yamat.

«Even though the cemetery is submerged here, we will continue to visit.» Maria Cayanan, 52, was supposed to light candles in front of her parents' tombstone in Pampanga, but the floodwaters prevented her from reaching their burial plots.

«We will just light the