The busiest places in all of Bohol happen today, tomorrow and the next day as the living remember their dearly departed whether in unmarked graves or in any of the gleaming mausoleums. The poor or middle class will likely troop to the graves of their loved ones in public cemeteries while society's upper crust will most likely visit the tombs of their dearly beloved in memorial parks where the rich and the famous usually buried their dead. The contrast is evident in the two public places as the day of the souls and saints are observed. While a memorial park is a landscape of manicured lawns, public graveyards are usually messy to behold as the mantra seems to be anything goes.

The only equalizer in the order of comfort and convenience in burial places, whether private or public, is the horror that vehicular traffic brings to both motorists and pedestrians. As always, all roads in and out to the cemeteries, traffic is generally horrendous that some people choose to visit their dead during off season. The visit to cemeteries will be more meaningful with the long weekend starting yesterday. Normally, All Saints Day, which is on Monday is a holiday. Although, tomorrow is set as the day of saints, the faithful marks the day as if it is the day of the dead, if the volume of people visiting the tombs in the cemeteries is any indication. While in many countries, All Saints Day is a solemn holiday set aside to remember the dead, in the Philippines the holiday is a day of festivities. November 1 marks the beginning of the Filipino "Araw ng mga Patay," the  celebration  of the Day of the Dead.

The celebration continues through the next day, All Souls Day. The two days are traditional Catholic  holidays  set aside to commemorate all the saints and the souls of the dead. While the holiday remains an important religious day for the Catholic Church, some of the more secular aspects are celebrated by the non-Catholic community. Though the people in the Philippines celebrate and honor the dead joyously, All Saints Day is still a respectful day for commemorating ancestors. Also part of the celebration is the All Saints Feast in the graveyard. Many people will spend all day "with" their dead, having picnics, playing games and telling stories. In the festive atmosphere, it's not unusual to hear the echoes of children laughing or the clicking of mah jong tiles as people gather together, sitting on the ledges of tombs.