In a previous post, I lamented that there was a lack of a Halloween celebration in the Philippines when I was just a little boy. When I wrote that article, in my mind, there was never any similar type of custom in the country. Anyway, it was after a conversation with a kababayan after I wrote that article when I realized that there is a Filipino version of Halloween, and it’s called pangangaluluwa.
However, it was not widely practiced anymore in the 90s. Although when I tried hard to dig into my memory bank, I vaguely remember one instance in which there was a group of elderly people who stopped by our gate to sing an old Tagalog pangangaluluwa song (a little creepy based on my recollection). They were dressed formally, and after their little performance, my father handed them what I recall was a P10 bill. I witnessed pangangaluluwa after all.
I’m sure not many people still remember pangaluluwa these days. The young ones, most especially, may have never heard about it anymore. In fact, it may not have been known in other parts of the country. When I did a little research, I found that it was largely a Tagalog tradition. It was observed on October 31 during All Hallows’ Eve. Interestingly, when pangangaluluwa was still observed, it was mostly children and teens who visited houses and sang songs related to All Saints’ Day. It was also said that pangangaluluwa was practiced mainly in rural areas, so again, it might not have gained national popularity.
Interestingly, according to the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, the groups of people who went house to house for pangangaluluwa pretended to be the wandering souls of the dead begging for prayers and alms.
My father once told me that when he was a young boy, it was mostly the old folks in their area (I couldn’t recall if it was in Nueva Vizcaya or Santiago City) who practiced the tradition. They weren’t in costumes but in their best Sunday dresses, carried a guitar, and went house to house to sing the pangngaluluwa song. After which, they would be handed either money or kakanin.
I also saw an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer which said that Sariaya, Quezon is doing its best to preserve the tradition. It was an old article though, published in 2014. And the practice was already modernized in which the participants dressed in costumes, similar to the typical (Western) Halloween celebration.
In closing, here are the “Pangangaluluwa” song lyrics in case you want to know:
Kaluluwa’y dumaratal
Sa tapat ng Durungawan
Kampanilya’y tinatantay
Ginigising ang mga buhay
Kung kami po’y limiusan
Dali-dalian po lamang
Baka kami mapagsarhan
Ng pinto ng kalangitan
Kaluluwa kaming tambing
Sa purgatoryo nanggaling
Palimos po!
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