Undas: The Filipino Reunion With the Dead

On November 1, cemeteries across the Philippines stop being quiet places. Families arrive with folding chairs, flowers, candles, and enough food to feed a reunion, because that is exactly what it is. The occasion is called Undas, and for millions of Filipinos it is one of the most important days of the year.

What Is Undas?

Undas is the Filipino name for All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2), observed together as one connected season of remembrance. It is a national holiday in the Philippines, set aside so families can travel home and visit their departed loved ones.

Where the word comes from is debated. A common explanation is that it is a shortened form of the Spanish Dia de los Todos Santos, or Day of All Saints. Another explanation, with a clearer paper trail, ties it to the Spanish honras, meaning honors. A Tagalog-Spanish dictionary from 1854 lists ondás as the equivalent of honras, and an 1889 dictionary gives the plural honras as the Mass for the dead. In that reading, Undas first referred to the Mass for the Dead on All Souls’ Day, then grew to cover both feasts. A 2025 Manila Bulletin editorial and Wikipedia’s entry on All Saints’ Day also give honras as the source. A viral “forgotten Spanish acronym” explanation circulating online has no support in period sources.

A Day of Reunion, Not Only Mourning

In the days before November 1, families clean and repaint tombs. On the day itself, they bring candles and flowers, say prayers, and often stay for hours. At large public cemeteries, some families stay overnight, though customs vary by place. Many people travel long distances to return to their home provinces, which makes Undas as much a family gathering as a religious observance.

Food is part of the remembering. Families share meals at the graveside or back home, and some cook the favorite dish of the person they have lost. One Davao teacher recalled her late grandmother preparing kalamay, a sticky sweet treat, every All Saints’ Day. The practice treats the dead as part of the family circle rather than people who have left it. In some towns, candles are also set on windowsills to guide souls home, and families hold padasal, prayer gatherings for the departed.

Pangangaluluwa: When “Wandering Souls” Come Knocking

Before trick-or-treating arrived, many rural communities had their own tradition on the eve of All Saints’ Day. It is called pangangaluluwa, from kaluluwa, the Filipino word for soul. Groups walked from house to house at dusk with candles and a guitar, singing verses and introducing themselves as souls wandering from purgatory. Households responded with offerings such as rice cakes, or money, much like Christmas caroling.

Accounts from older residents describe a playful side, too. In some neighborhoods, part of the group would slip around the back of a house looking for stray chickens to take, which were cooked the next day and shared with family at the cemetery. Today, pangangaluluwa survives in places like Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Rizal, and Mindoro, often as sung prayers for the dead. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts has cited it as evidence of the Filipino belief in a continuing relationship between the living and the dead.

Sources differ on how old the tradition is. Some describe it as pre-colonial, while another account traces the oral tradition back to the 1900s.

Fire for the Ancestors in Sagada

In the mountain town of Sagada, Mountain Province, the cemetery glows with bonfires at dusk on November 1. The practice is known as panag-apoy (also reported as pinag-aapoy), meaning “to light a fire.” Bundles of wood are blessed during an afternoon mass, then carried to the cemetery, where families light fires on the graves of their loved ones.

One resident described the belief behind it as keeping the spirits warm. Local voices describe the custom as one where older Kankanaey practice and Catholic observance merged over time. Sources differ on the details of its origin: one resident says fire-lighting predates the Church, while another account places the start of the cemetery practice around 1915. What residents agree on is the tone. Panag-apoy is solemn, not a festival for visitors, and it is taboo to stay in the cemetery all night. The reunions continue at home afterward.

Feeding the Souls: Inlubi and Tulod

Offering food to the dead appears in several regions, each in its own way.

The most widely documented form is atang, the Ilocano practice of offering food to the dead. The National Museum of the Philippines notes that the same act is known as alay among Tagalogs and halad among Cebuanos. Plates typically hold sticky rice and rice-flour delicacies such as suman, along with sesame seeds, sticky rice with coconut milk, and uncooked rice shaped into a cross and topped with fresh eggs. Betel nut, lime powder, basi (fermented sugarcane wine), and tobacco may accompany the offering. Ilocanos believe the soul still needs sustenance during the wake and returns to the living after the nine-day wake, when it must be welcomed back. Atang may also be offered when a departed relative appears in a dream or a family member falls suddenly ill, as a way to appease the soul. The museum describes it as a reflection of how Filipinos view life after death and the lasting bond between the living and the departed.

In Aguilar, Pangasinan, families offer inlubi, a dark, chewy sticky rice cake made from toasted glutinous rice, coconut milk, and sugar. Local officials explain that it began as a practical solution for farmers: when the observance came around, the rice was not yet mature enough to harvest, so residents used the immature grain.

In Bicol, the custom of tulod involves leaving a loved one’s favorite things on the coffin during the wake and again on the tomb every November 1. One Albay resident notes that the practice is frowned on by some clergy, who view it as pagan, yet she describes it as an ancestral custom that predates Spanish colonization and has stayed embedded in the region’s Undas.

Tumba-Tumba: Graves on the Street

In San Narciso, Zambales, Undas brings makeshift huts called kubol to street corners, standing in for the tombs of loved ones. The tradition is described as an offshoot of the tumba-tumba custom of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, and dates in San Narciso to the 1830s. Traditionally, the huts were decorated with handmade paper flowers and offerings known as atang, which can include betel nuts and the native wine basi. Communities prayed together (luwalo in Ilocano) and, in the past, may have performed dung-aw, a chanted retelling of the life of the deceased.

San Narciso has since added horror-themed huts and a parade, and these remain up after the traditional ones are taken down. Tourism officials note that Paoay’s version stays solemn.

Kalag-Kalag in Cebu

In Cebu, kalag-kalag (from kalag, the Cebuano word for soul) has long carried a festive spirit. Locals describe November 1 as a festival with the dead, when families once brought food, drinks, and even sound systems to cemeteries. The Spanish-era custom has calmed down, but it is still practiced in Cebu’s component cities and on the islands of Bantayan and Camotes.

A Tradition That Keeps Changing

Undas is a layered tradition. Catholic observance, regional customs, and older beliefs about the continued presence of ancestors sit side by side, and different provinces emphasize different parts. Some customs have faded as American-style trick-or-treating became popular with younger generations. Others, like the bonfires of Sagada, continue as living practice.

What holds across regions is the idea underneath it all: the dead are remembered with candles, food, music, and stories, and the living gather in their name.

Sources

• Philstar Life, “Unique Undas traditions in the Philippines that honor—and celebrate—the dead” (Oct. 31, 2025)
• Arab News, “Filipinos mark All Saints’ Day with bonfires, songs to honor their dead” (Nov. 1, 2025)
• Philippine News Agency, “Returning to the roots of Filipino ‘Undas’” (Oct. 31, 2023)
• National Museum of the Philippines, “Undas 2021 (Atang)” (Nov. 2, 2021)
• firesetter news, “The True Origin and Meaning of Undas” (Nov. 2, 2022), a Catholic priest’s blog citing the 1854 and 1889 dictionaries
• SCJ Philippines Region, “Undas: A Unique Tradition of Honoring the Dead in the Philippines” (Nov. 1, 2023)
• Manila Bulletin, “Undas: A time to remember, a time to care for the Earth” (Nov. 1, 2025)
• Wikipedia, “All Saints’ Day” (Philippines section, used only for the word’s etymology)
• GMA News, “Why All Saints’ Day in the Philippines is called Undas”
• DavaoToday, “Filipino beliefs during Undas”
• The Filipino Chronicle, “Undas Reconnects Families to their Departed and Offers Healing”