THE increase in demand of flowers for the All Souls’ and Saints’ Days and the decrease in supply from local farms sent prices of some flowers at the Freedom Park in Cebu City soaring to as high as twice and thrice their regular prices.
Mary Chris Ardiente, 26, one of the flower vendors, said that from just P50 per tie of red roses, they are now selling it at P150.
“Among kompra ana karon kay 100 na man ang bugkos, mao nang nakatulo g’yud ang presyo (We buy that at P100 per tie this time, that’s why we sell it thrice its regular price),” said Ardiente.
Ardiente, who has been selling flowers for the All Souls’ and All Saints’ Days for 15 years, however, said that this year has given them yet a better turnout than last year because there were a lot of flowers damaged from last year’s rains.
Aside from the roses, some flowers which are usually brought to the cemetery like puto-puto, aster and chrysanthemum (white and yellow) have also seen an increase in their prices.
From a regular price of P40 to P50, chrysanthemums are now being sold at 100 per dozen bundle.
“Puto-puto,” a white-petal flower, now costs P200 per two-dozen bundle while asters are sold at P130 per tie.
Some vendors also sell arranged flowers which cost from P100 to P300 depending on the size and design of the arrangement.
Samuel Dungog, 55, a flower farmer from Barangay Busay, arranges small flower baskets for P100.
“More people buy the smaller arrangement especially those with small grave spaces like the apartments. The big ones would not fit there,” said Dungog in Cebuano.
He also revealed that he had imported some of his flowers from Baguio because of the lesser production in the local flower farms.
Meanwhile, the cost of the candles in Carbon Public Market has no significant increase.
Vigil candles in a glass can be bought at P35 each or three for P100, while those without the glass are at P20 to P25 each.
Bigger glasses of candles range from P80 to P120, depending on the size.