Number of cemetery visitors drops as rains pelt Metro Manila

Very few braved the rain to visit their departed on the eve of All Saints Day. PHOTO Phatricia Roxas

The number of visitors at the Manila North Cemetery significantly decreased this year due to the inclement weather, police said on Tuesday.

Police Senior Inspector Ana Simbajon of the Sta. Cruz police station said this year’s crowd at the largest cemetery in the metropolis peaked at 100,000 around 3:00 p.m., which is lower compared to last year.

The number slowly dwindled to around 75,000 at 4:00 p.m.

“Mas konti this year kasi last year nakapag-peak tayo ng 280,000 ng 4 p.m. Tapos 400,000 yung total estimated crowd natin noong October 31 last year,” Simbajon said.

The police said the continuous rains, among others, could have caused the decline.

Despite this, Simbajon said they would continue to intensify the security at the cemetery especially on All Saints’ Day, Wednesday.

She said a total of 500 personnel would be available in shifts of 24 hours to safeguard the cemetery and its visitors.

Gloom also hit some vendors at cemeteries and memorial parks.

“Matumal ngayon, napakatumal at saka isa pa, kahapon nag-clearing ang MMDA kaya wala kaming benta kahapon,” Carolina Avena, 71, told INQUIRER.net in an interview on Tuesday.

(The business is very slow this year. And yesterday, the MMDA conducted its clearing operations that’s why we don’t have earnings yesterday.)

“Last year naman hindi ako nalugi noon, kasi may consignment naman akong kandila, naisoli ko yun. Pero ‘di ako nalugi, nabayaran ko lahat ng nakuha ko,” she said.

(I did not lose money last year because I was able to return the consigned candles. I was able to pay everything I got.)

Avena said she was lucky and fast enough to run away from the authorities, unlike the others who had their goods seized and thrown away.

Avena sells a small basket filled with one kind of flowers for P100 to P150, a medium-sized one with three different flowers for around P200 to P250, while a large wreath with chrysanthemums, Malaysian mums, tropical, anthurium, and bromeliad between P600 to P800.

She said the prices of flowers would no longer increase until Wednesday but would go down as the holiday in observance of All Saints’ Day wraps up.

The prices of candles, which already increased by P5 to P10 early October, would remain the same, Aveno said.

But as fewer people visited the Manila Memorial Park this year, Aveno said she may just sell the flowers and candles at a much lower price just to get back her capital. With a report from Jhoanna Ballaran