The month of November is set aside for the remembrance of those who had passed away. November 1st of each year is the celebration of All Saints Day and the 2nd of November is devoted to the remembrance of the dead.

In many places in the Philippines, people go to the cemetery on the 1st of November. For the first two days of November, the cemeteries are transformed into major hubs where people meet their kinfolks, former classmates and friends heard and seen a year ago.

In many ways, the remembrance of the dead has become also a powerful and continuing ‘glue’ to the ever growing family. It recognizes a common ancestry to growing family branches that have multiplied through the years and have gone far and wide.

In years past, the remembrance of the dead was solemn and very religious. People offer Masses and prayers for their beloved dead. Later in the afternoon until evening they visit the cemeteries to light candles and place flowers in the tombs of their beloved.

As the world has become more secular, the religious rituals have become more subdued and the cemeteries have practically become carnivals complete with shows and all sorts of games. The remembrance of the dead has become a big commercial enterprise with the trappings of showbiz!

There is no ‘turning the clock back’, except for some nostalgic reminiscences of the bygone times and ages!

There is the joyful celebration of the All Saints Day, November 1st, and All Souls Day, Nov. 2nd. The more religious members of the family reserve the whole month of November to offer prayers and Masses for the departed.

It is rightly so that the remembering the dead is not all sad and sorrowful! The remembrance of the departed is not simply a ‘look back’ into the bygone days. The remembrance of the ancestors is as much as a ‘look forward’. People in a friendly and hospitable environment update themselves on the development of their hometown and kinfolks. The visit to the graves make them feel anew, in a more physical way, the beliefs and values on which their forebears stood ground with dignity and pride.

We are four children plus one (there is a first cousin who was adopted by my mother from birth until she was 21) that were early orphaned by a father in a plane crash. The presence of our father was kept alive not only through photos and stories that our mother never tired telling and re-telling, but also by our weekly visit to the grave after the Sunday Mass.

Through the stories, he became very alive and we were taught and formed to live by his belief and values, particularly friendship with common folks, hospitality to those in need thus our home had practically become akin to ‘DSWD’.

As my father was a great provider, my mother became practically the ‘mother’ of perpetual help to all who knocked at our door.

Now that both are gone… we (5), their sons and daughters, continue to live by their beliefs and values. They continue to measure us not only by their hard work and generosity but also by their devotion to the Almighty and to her Blessed Mother.

The two towering icons that have become the living legacy to us are the Jesus of Nazarene at the Quiapo Shrine and the Mother of Perpetual Help at the Baclaran Shrine.

My saintly mom became widow at a young age of 26 years old. The tragedy of my father’s plane crash coupled with five young mouths to feed and educate was the cross she bore. Her unwavering faith in Jesus of Nazarene at Quiapo gave her that strength to carry the weight and the burden of her cross. She, too, bravely bore her cross to the end and gave life and good future to all her kids - the five of us.

She would, also, constantly call on the Mother of Perpetual Help in her times of needs which was ‘always’! And the Blessed Mother had never failed to come to her side both in times of joys and adversities. The Mother of Perpetual Help had truly become the perpetual help to her. She was literally her and our own ‘life line’ in the years of our growing up.

All Saints Day and All Souls Day celebrations are always special to me. They provide the occasion to come back ‘home’ to Obando, Bulacan, my first hometown (Dulawan in Maguindanao is my second). It is not only to fulfill my filial devotion to my mom and dad by lighting candles and saying prayers in their graves but it is also a precious moment to ‘re-connect’ to my kinfolks and classmates and townmates.

November is an occasion I always look forward to celebrate with kinfolks and friends as I reminisce the bygone years with all the members of the tribe – living and dead!

Many were caught by a big surprise when the Social Weather Station came out with its latest publication released on 10 October 2011 celebrating the 20th anniversary of the local government Code or RA 7160.

The special focus on the ARMM is per request of DILG. Believe it or not, within the ARMM, the residents are contented with the performance of the present incumbents; 63 percent are satisfied and 18 percent as dissatisfied, for a net rating of +45.

The good performance in the ARMM (first time since 1989) is, definitely, something to celebrate. The positive mark is mostly credited to the indefatigable Executive Secretary, Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo. His energy and youthful enthusiasm are akin to a virus that spreads itself to the whole ARMM structure since the incumbents have taken over the helm of ARMM government in December 2009 following the tragic Maguindanao massacre on 23rd November 2009.

The mark of good performance in the ARMM governance for the last two years sets a new benchmark that is hard to follow. The present incumbents will soon leave their posts with a sole distinction of good and satisfactory performance in office. They have shown to the world and the nation that with a few good men in office who are committed and devoted to real public service, ARMM regional government can pick of the pieces and rise from the shame brought about by long years of bad governance and impunity of which the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre is the ignominious symbol.

The Supreme Court has, finally, decided on the constitutionality of RA 10153 or the law synchronizing the ARMM elections with the mid-term national elections on the 2nd Monday of May 2013. And now the ball is in PNoy’s court, that is, to consolidate the good performance of the past two years by way of appointing GOOD PUBLIC SERVANTS as OICs in the ARMM.

The premise often cited for the appointments of OICs is to carry out the much needed reforms in the ARMM. They are identified as:
(1) improving access and delivery of basic services, particularly in the areas of health and basic education;
(2) doing away with clan and dynastic politics that have held the ARMM politics hostage;
(3) good governance and accountability of regional allocation and expenditures; and
(4) exorcising the ghosts not only in government bureaucracy but also in notorious electoral system that is well known for the100% voting average and 100% delivery of votes in favor of the pre-selected candidates.

The selection process for the OICs had been completed. The short list is now submitted to the Office of the President for PNoy’s lucky and ‘magic’ anointment.

The actual selection process engendered a consultation process not known in the ‘culture’ of ARMM since its creation in 1989. The short listed nominees presented their platform of governance in public and they were all subjected to panel interviews and public scrutiny. This was a novel process in the ARMM long used to the feudal leaders dictating to their constituency.

With the good satisfaction rating of the present incumbents, the incoming OICs are challenged to work harder and to perform better. At stake is not only their own reputation as good public servants but the President himself who has worked hard to lobby in Congress for the passage of the controversial law that provides not only for the cancellation of the scheduled August 8th, 2011 ARMM elections but also for the appointment of OICs until their successors are duly elected and qualified in 2013 mid-term elections.

The PNoy administration is now poised to unravel a reform road map that includes among others a sort of mini ‘Marshall Plan’ to put on solid footing the desired long-term stability of the ARMM. The ‘extra-ordinary’ intervention or assistance would be taken from the budget of the select national agencies as their concrete contribution to actual reforms in the ARMM. It is NOT ‘business as usual’ but a call for harder work and greater commitment to good governance and peace and development in the region.

No doubt, the reforms and rehabilitation work would entail cost! But with the President’s men and women who shall be in charge as OICs, the necessary wherewithal to effect real change and development in the ARMM would, hopefully, not be wanting.

In the same vein, partnership would remain the ‘by word’ in the reform road map. It would require a solid partnership particularly with the private sector and donor communities. The public and private investments in the autonomous region would provide the needed assistance as the new OICs embark in the path of reforming the ARMM.

The incoming OICs in the ARMM should know that they have actually NO CHOICE! They are NOT allowed to fail! They are all the personal choices of the President and as such they are directly accountable to him who shall actively exercise supervision over the ARMM governance. The OICs’ failure and success would also be the President’s! CUIDATE!

With the peace negotiations entering a sort of ‘winter’ season due to colliding positions on the terms of possible political settlement, International Alert in partnership with UK Embassy invited the Rt. Honorable Paul Murphy, Member of the British Parliament and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Wales.

MP Paul Murphy belongs to the Labor Government of both PM Tony Blair and PM Gordon Brown. It was this popular Labor government under Mr. Blair that negotiated the Good Friday Agreement that has laid the peace formula not only between the warring Unionist party (Protestant) and the Sein Fein (Catholic) but also shaping the relations between and among Great Britain, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The case of Northern Ireland rings a familiar chord for the peoples of Southern Philippines albeit the differences in ‘color’, ‘shape’, religions, ideology and cultures. The many similarities touch on the relations of minority and majority cum the controversial wealth and opportunity sharing, and compounded by religious identities that are more tied to cultural ideologies and their popular expressions, including the use of violence.

Mr. Murphy’s short visit is simply to share with us – stakeholders to peace in Mindanao both in the national and regional levels - a model of peace negotiation that has proven successful not only in terms of signing a peace agreement but also implementing it with political will on the ground as workable formula for wealth and power sharing.

I cannot help but observe that the man who provided the environment and the ‘push’ is an ardent Catholic who received a papal knighthood for his peace work in Northern Ireland.

Some of the similarities between Northern Ireland and Southern Philippines are on issues touching the relations not only between minority (Catholics) and majority (Protestants) but also between the national government (the British Parliament) and the six counties (four Protestants and two Catholics) that formed Northern Ireland.

The above relationship in the recent past was marred by conflict and injustice of varying shades of colors of injustices and ideologies translated and expressed in more familiar concepts like political power, economic development and cultural identities (British Crown for the Unionists and the Republic for Sein Fein).

The other noteworthy similarity in the Northern Ireland conflict was the fact that for decades the conflict in the Northern Ireland remained distant not only to the Government of Great Britain but also to the British Constituency. It actually communicated a subtle message to the effect saying that so long as the killings, the carnage and the violations of basic rights remained in Belfast or Londonderry or in any part of Northern Ireland, the peoples of Great Britain continued with ‘business as usual’.

Things changed when the Irish Republican Army or IRA brought the conflict to London itself. The US was also brought to the picture, not only because of the historical and cultural ties to Ireland and Great Britain but more so because of the many Irish Americans’ support for the struggle of their kin and kith in the North.

What is noteworthy in the making of the Good Friday Agreement is the political will of the two governments (United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland). The two leaders, UK PM Mr. Blair and Republic of Ireland PM Mr. Beartie, were on board all the way as the full time and elected peace negotiators ironed out the formula of wealth and power sharing between the warring Protestant and Catholic groups. The US sent a powerful mediator in the person of Senator George Mitchell, with the full backing and support not only of the sitting US President (both President Clinton and later President G. W. Bush) but also by the entire US Congress. The role and support of the entire European Union were also much felt for the simple reason that the two major protagonists, the UK and the Republic of Ireland, are members of the same EU.

The equally important ingredient that went into the making of the Good Friday Agreement was the TRUST and the RESPECT accorded to one and all by the full time and elected negotiators, mediators, Governments and all stakeholders with few exceptions.

What is crucial is the fact that the Good Friday agreement is “HOMEGROWN”. NO IMPOSED peace agreement anywhere and at anytime is sustainable! The Good Friday Agreement is shaped by the stakeholders themselves through their elected negotiators (with real constituencies on the ground) and facilitated by a powerful US mediator and fully supported by the two major protagonists.

The Good Friday Agreement gives HOPE to our own peace process now experiencing some difficulties. Mr. Murphy’s sharing is a successful PEACE Story. Though we are not ‘copy cats’ of Northern Ireland, no doubt, we can draw concrete lessons from it if we are looking for a fresh wind blowing our own peace story... else we freeze in the winter of the peace talks!