Atang

The photo above was an atang or offering made for the departed soul of my sister-in-law.  For this atang most of the food served are her favorite. In the offering table also contain fruits, sweets, rice cake or sinukat (glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk), flowers, drinks and lighted candles.

For most Ilocanos atang is a common traditional practice whenever dishes are cooked for different occasions. Small portion of each of the viands are placed in an altar with water or basi (sugar cane wine) and the spirits of those departed are called to partake the food. Growing up in Ilocos, when it is my birthday,  my aunt would ask me to do the offering of food and I would be told to summon the spirits of our loved ones and say in Ilocano:

"Umaykayon, lila, lilo, auntie. uncle, kadakayo amin apo, ikarkarag dakami apo."

(Come grandmas, grandpas, aunties, uncles and all of you great spirits, please pray for us.)

The appease the spirits they should be the first the partake anything (all the food) that will be served in the feast or occasion. Thus the person will be blessed or the event will be made more auspicious. 

I remember that after harvest the newly milled and cooked rice should be offered even with simple viand or just even salt  and water to give thanks to the spirits and receive their continued blessings for a fruitful and more productive harvests in the future.

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atang_(food_offering)

An atang is a traditional food offering in the Philippines to ward off evil spirits. The most common atang to ward off sickness is a ricecake calledsinukat.^[1][2] A table with an atang meal may be put in a new house.^[3] An atang may also be for a harvest offering.^[4] Ilocanos may prepare an atang before each meal.^[5] The atang may also be called a "santorum" or "panang".^[6] The atang meal may be associated in some ceremonies with dance.^[7]

References

1. ^ Cordero-Fernando, Gilda; Baldemor, Manuel D. (1992). Philippine Food & Life: Luzon. "When spirits have to be remembered on their special day, or placated because they have made someone ill, an atang or offering is made. The most common atang for illness is a ricecake called sinukat. It is put in a coconut shell and ..."
2. ^ Ramos, Maximo (1934). "Holiday In Black". Philippine Magazine 31: 473. "Ka Mimai has made pinekkel, while tall Ka Gunda, wife of my cousin Iniong, called Gunding before she was wed, has cooked sinukat. Before letting anybody taste her sinukat Ka Gunda fills a plate with the cake."
3. ^ Virgil Mayor Apostol (2010). Way of the Ancient Healer: Sacred Teachings from the Philippine. p. 22. "This is a practice that has its roots in the ancient custom of constructing a home that includes an atang made before, during, ... An atang set for the one-year death anniversary of engineer andArnis master Eduardo Vintayen. ..."
4. ^ Philippine Journal of Education. 1974. "Occasionally, after harvest time, she could be seen offering an "atang" (food: rice and native cakes) in a corner of her rice field chanting her thanks to the "anitos" and "encantos" for the good harvest and praying for a better harvest ..."
5. ^ Jocano, F. Landa; Edrozo, Arnora (1982). The Ilocanos: an ethnography of family and community life in the .... University of the Philippines. Asian Center. "The family also makes an atang (food offering) before each meal. No one eats before this is otherwise, a member of the household or any guest for that matter will have deformed mouth, lockjaw, or stomachache. Only when the spirits are ..."
6. ^ Duque, Venancio S. (February 1937). "Santorum". Philippine Magazine 32: 75. JSTOR 1177391. "Santorum is a name given to a certain weird and mystic ceremony performed by native medicos in northern Luzon and in the central provinces to cure those who are said to be suffering from ailments wrought by the spirits.
   A santorum, sometimes called a pañang, was performed for the treatment of one of the writer's acquaintances after the attending physician had given up all hope for his recovery."
7. ^ Studies in Philippine linguistics:. Linguistic Society of the Philippines: Summer Institute of Linguistics. 1988. "The only type of dance ever mentioned by the people is the atang . (An atang was put on once for our benefit ... Now that feuds more and more are settled peacefully, at least near the coast, an atang is sometimes staged by a single ..."