THE secular observance of Halloween has gained ground in the Philippines, for this is the era of globalization. Thus there will be some witches, goblins, and costumed children and adults moving around tonight. However, partying and trick-or-treating is not common practice in our country. Instead, the eve of All Saints’ Day is mostly spent on preparations for the annual ritual of visiting cemeteries, remembering our deceased loved ones in prayer, and honoring them for what they contributed to our lives.

SOME members of the opposition are bellyaching about the security restrictions around the presidential palace. Well, we just have to live with them. In this day and age, it would be better to err on the side of caution. Even airports, seaports, malls, and hotels have restrictions.

MILITARY intelligence is not quite the contradiction in terms that critics say it is. It’s the silent weapon that guides strategy and tactics in war, law enforcement, and business competition. Publicizing "intelligence" doesn’t accomplish its purpose.

THE President is open to principled cooperation with her enemies.

AMERICAN diplomats, whose political reports on the Philippines were recently exposed by the FBI, must be dying to send home a report on the "no permit, no mass" policy which threatens to bring on a new fight between church and state and a war among Catholic church leaders.

TO serve God, country, and fellowmen was Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s advice not only to the young women of Malolos but to the Filipino youth. The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) has stressed this timeless counsel among its millions of members throughout the country during the past 69 years of its existence. This year’s theme "BSP: A Program for Today’s Youth for a Better Tomorrow" concretizes BSP’s commitment to continue to mold the Filipino youth as prime-movers for a better future for the country.

IF only to clear things up a raging controversy involving the Philcomsat group of companies, informed sources advanced the notion that it certainly deserves a hearing by a Senate committee. The following factors necessitate such a probe:

PRESIDENT GMA pushes for the speedy approval of the anti-terror bill amidst threats.

TWENTY-five years ago I had a book "Conquest of Death," kept till today waiting for the phenomenon at the propitious time by author Alvin Silverstein, Ph., Chairman of the Department of Biological Science of the City University of New York. He authored college texts and numerous other books on biomedicine, including Cancer, Exploring the Brain, and Heart Disease. This subject book of author Silverstein was first printed 1979 in New York and later in London. Since we are celebrating All Saints’ Day this week, I decided to take out this book from my library to read it again and refresh my wish before visiting the graves of relatives and friends in cemeteries. Indeed, next to the Bible, Silverstein gives us hope of immortality.

THERE is a hero in every town in the Philippines. Many of them emerged in the many rebellions that culminated in the Philippine Revolution that led to the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, and the establishment of the first Philippine Republic on June 23, 1899.

JESUS said to the chief of Pharisees who invited Him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."