Batangas Lakelands- Ready to make this Halloween extra sweet? Join us for our No Tricks, Just Treats event on October 26, 2024

All Saints’ Day in the Philippines is usually celebrated on the first and second day of November. In the Philippines, this holiday is often referred to as Undas.

All Saints’ Day is an important day in many Catholic countries. As the Philippines is the world’s third largest Catholic country, the country celebrates it with gusto. Traditionally, All Saints’ Day marks a Roman Catholic holiday that celebrates saints who were not awarded their own feast days. It also marks a celebration of the lives of the deceased.

All Saints’ Day in the Philippines is celebrated similarly to the way the holiday is marked in other former Spanish colonies like Mexico. On November 1st each year, people flock to their family plots in cemeteries across the country. They also use this holiday to hold a family reunion where groups of an extended family gather together.

The day is filled with music and food. There is also prayer and religious traditions. At the end of the day, people will often camp overnight in the cemetery to pay their respects to their dead relatives. Visitors remark that Filipinos are remarkably at home among their dead ancestors.

Filipinos are known for having great respect for their dead. To prepare for Undas, families will visit the graves of their ancestors before the holiday to clean up the area and perform maintenance. During the holiday, people will decorate the graves with flowers and candles. The cemeteries will come alive during this period.

In addition to these traditions, other Catholic traditions are also observed. Many cemeteries will hold a special mass during the day. The rest of the day is often marked by periods of prayer and the recitation of the Litany for the Dead.

This holiday is a mix of the observance of the dead and a joyful holiday. Families bring plenty of food and drink for their dead relatives. Some believe that the deceased are taking part in the feast alongside the living. While most bring food directly to the cemetery, other families will also leave food at home on altars for any relatives who aren’t buried in the cemetery.

The Philippines is the largest Christian country in Asia. As a result, much of the country shuts down over these two days. Offices and schools both close during this period.

The EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary occurs every 25 February in the Philippines. It commemorates the peaceful demonstrations that occurred in 1986 and led to the overthrow of the corrupt rule of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Padre Garcia, Batangas Foundation Day December 01, 2020

Bonifacio Day is a national public holiday every 30 November in the Philippines to celebrates the birthday of one of the country’s greatest heroes, Andrés Bonifacio.

Born on 30 November 1863, Bonifacio is considered as the Father of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonisation. He, along with some others, started a movement known as the ‘Katipunan’ in 1892. The Katipunan was a secret revolutionary society that instigated military revolts against the Spanish colonisers.

Bonifacio became the Katipunan’s military leader and the president of the revolutionary government, which (according to some historians) makes Bonifacio the first president of the Philippine Republic. Bonifacio and the Katipunan recruited many citizens to their cause, eventually becoming the most prominent revolutionary force the Spaniards had to face.

However Bonifacio’s leadership was contested by some others, and in particular, Emilio Aguinaldo. After a series of leadership challenges and internal rifts, Aguinaldo violently took over the revolutionary forces and unjustly ordered Bonifacio to be tried and executed under the guise of treason.

Bonifacio Day is held every 30 November, or the Monday nearest this day to create a long weekend. Unlike the main national hero, José Rizal, Bonifacio Day is celebrated on his day of birth, rather than his day of death. This is because Bonifacio was killed by his fellow countrymen, rather than at the hands of foreign colonisers.

Join us on the inauguration, blessing, and groundbreaking of Multiple Infrastructure Projects in San Jose Batangas.

Programs and Activities
March 08, 2021

6:00 AM | Holy Mass (Archdiocesan Shrine & Parish of St Joseph the Patriarch)
7:30 AM | Blessing of Improvement of Putol Bridge
8:00 AM | Inauguration & Blessing of San Jose  New Public Market & New Parking Building
9:30 AM | Inauguration & Blessing of Santo Cristo Don Luis Bridge
10:30 AM | Groundbreaking of San Jose Cultural and Sports Center
11:30 AM | Inauguration & Blessing of San Jose Legislative Building

Every 8 December is Immaculate Conception Day in the Philippines, a holiday that is commemorated in many other Roman Catholic-majority countries around the world.

The devout in the Philippines attend special masses on this day in honour of the Virgin Mary and the belief in her having been conceived without sin. The day is also supposed to be a day when Catholics avoid any “unnecessary work”.

The main event on Immaculate Conception in the Philippines is the procession of Marian images from all over the country around the old walled city in Manila. There are 90 or more such images, many of them very ornate and associated with claims of miraculous appearances and healings or the like. This event is often dubbed, “The Grand Marian Procession”.

The carriages that carry the images of Mary, called “carrozas”, are also very ornate and are filled with flowers and lit candles. And a marching band may accompany the images “Marian parade”.

The first of these Immaculate Conception processions took place in 1619, was designed to promote the catechism, and lasted for 15 days. The modern ones are shorter, but have more images and are focused on reverencing the Virgin Mary rather than the catechism as such.

December 05, 2020 Teodoro Kalaw 80th Death Anniversary Commemoration