We plunder gardens to get flowers and we again gather around graves to light candles. We paint the crosses that mark the tombstones of our loved ones and we pinch the cheeks of the solitary angels by painting their faces as they hover over the final destiny of those who have gone ahead of us.

It is autumn in Germany, the leaves have long started to turn into all shades of red and yellow and are now thrown. Walking the place has yet again become a special experience, as on cold, misty and sunless days one moves through these warm colors, causing a gentle noise of rustling leaves with every step one takes. Like in childhood days I look down on the ground while walking and particularly seek the really big piles of leaves to walk through and spread all these colors around me while moving on.

After winning the much coveted title as MR. STEP 2009 , Patrick Allan V. Peralta is now all set to represent not just the University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) in the upcoming National STEP Competition, but all his fellow Bikolanos as well as he competes for the national title comes January 2010.

LEGAZPI CITY, Oct. 27 - The provincial government of Albay is now working for a massive build-up on disaster response capability to secure the zero casualty goal. "We have acquired 13 new rubber boats amounting to P5.5 million, nine units of ambulances worth P3.4 million and 1,000 public address systems, (P6 million at P6,000 each) to boost our disaster response," the governor said.

LEGAZPI CITY, Oct. 27 - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is closely monitoring Mt. Mayon after a lava dome was seen developing at the volcano's crater on Tuesday.

LEGAZPI CITY, Oct. 27 - All preparations are in place for "Oplan Undas", a security measure for the upcoming All Saints' Day, which is a religious tradition observed throughout the country, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday.

Naga City (29 October) - In urging the local Catholic faithful to choose morally upright candidates and shun those "greedy for power and money," Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi criticized the re-districting of the province of Camarines Sur and the politicians behind this.

LEGAZPI CITY, October 22, 2009-The Alyansa Kontra Casino will not rest until all forms of gambling in the city and the province of Albay are totally eradicated. This was the statement of Rev. Fr. Ramoncito Segubiense in an interview over Radio Veritas Legazpi yesterday.

VATICAN, Oct. 22, 2009-- Benedict XVI appointed the vice president of the Pontifical Academy For Life, Monsignor Jean Laffitte, as secretary of the Pontifical Council of the Family, and named him a bishop.

SINGAPORE, October 22, 2009--Catholic moral theologians have raised concerns after news broke that scientists here have become the first to "semi-clone" an animal by fertilizing an egg with an embryonic stem cell that mimics sperm.