FLOWER vendors near St. Augustine Cathedral in Cagayan de Oro City anticipate business as usual leading up to Undas (All Souls’ Day). The smallest flower basket remains priced at P100.
“It’s still a (regular) day for us,” said Queenie, a vendor of one of of the 13 flower sellers in the area. She expects customers to start buying flowers today, Oct. 30, and in the days that follow.
Queenie noted that while customer volume increases during this season, vendors typically don’t double their sales.
“Ang occasion gyud kanang makabawi mi, kanang sa Valentine’s Day,” she said, indicating that Valentine’s Day is the occasion where they truly recover their costs.
She added that many flower vendors set up stalls near cemetery entrances, where visitors often prefer to buy fresh flowers for their departed loved ones.
However, the cathedral vendors still get consistent sales.
“Naa gyapon ga palit diri, kanang mga suki, ang uban gikan sa lagyo, ang uban kanang mg palit na daan para dili na ma traffic pag abot didto,” Queenie said, noting that loyal customers and those traveling from afar buy from them to avoid traffic at the cemeteries.
Meanwhile, Romulo Sindol Jr. and his family visited their departed loved ones yesterday, Oct. 29.
“We want to avoid the big crowd and traffic congestion,” he told Gold Star Daily.
Sindol bought candles at P10 each from Cogon market, while a basket of flowers cost him P300.
