MANILA, Philippines - In what appeared to be an abandoned mausoleum at a public cemetery in Quezon City, Maritess Suarez and her two helpers sort melted candle wax as hordes of people trooped to visit the tombs of their dearly departed late Friday.
For Suarez, the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day feasts – also known as “Undas†– were an opportunity to earn money from melted candle wax left behind at tombs by visiting relatives.
Hers is a business venture she looks forward to every year as she could actually earn a lot from the junk left behind by visitors at the cemetery.
Just last year, they were able to collect and resell two tons of melted candle wax.
Her helpers said children playing in the cemetery pick up the melted candle wax at the tombs and sell them for P20 per kilo. Suarez’s group would then resell the wax for P30 per kilo.
“There are those who buy these from us,†one of the helpers told The STAR in Tagalog in an interview late Friday.
She said the melted candle wax would again be re-sold to candle manufacturers so they could be recycled into new candles once again.
Suarez was just among the enterprising Filipinos who took advantage of the two holidays at the cemeteries to earn money.
Stalls lined up
Senior Superintendent Timoteo Pacleb, chief of director staff of the Quezon City Police District, even noted that the long stretch of road serving as the entrance looked more like a street sidewalk with stalls and makeshift stores than a cemetery.
According to Pacleb, vehicles were not allowed inside the cemetery and visitors would have to walk several meters from the main road to the actual area of the tombs.
Pacleb noted that the goods for sale included not just food. The police official even stopped to ask a vendor when he saw pieces of silver jewelry dipped in a liquid solution. The vendor said it was to show the jewelry would not fade.
Other stalls even sold clothes at a bargain, while some vendors went as far as selling Christmas decoration this early.
Since it was a public cemetery and most visitors came from the lower income brackets, most of those for sale were street food.
This was in stark contrast from those being sold at an adjacent private cemetery, where stalls of popular restaurants and fast-food stores abound.
Others, especially those living on the outskirts of the cemeteries, tried to make money by offering their yards as parking spaces.
A man stood along a road leading to the entrance of the public cemetery, offering parking spaces for vehicles that would not be allowed inside.
The man used wit to entice motorists as he held a cardboard with the words: “Parking (for) P20. Ayaw mo pa (What’s not to like)?â€