The mad scramble for candles and flowers has begun, despite their runaway costs especially in the aftermath of tropical storms that continue to push prices of consumer items soaring, with millions of faithful preparing to visit their dead earlier than All Saints’ Day, November 1.

Malacanang’s declaration of a three-day week-end has propelled families to giant supermarkets and groceries further depleting their inventories by merging with shoppers who continue to stockpile on canned goods, forcing the wiping out of shelves almost by the hour.

Makeshift tents of candle and flower vendors have mushroomed around entrances of public cemeteries and memorial parks to catch the early birds trying to steer clear of the bumper-to-bumper traffic long equated with All Saints’ Day pandemonium. Vendors in these places sell their wares at slightly higher costs than what are sold in public markets.

Given the thinning wallets of minimum wage earners and even their counterparts in the private sector, their yearly exodus to the provinces at this time of the year is likely to be cut to a minimum, if not entirely forfeited for more essential food items.

Several Good Samaritans have given up their yearly All Saints’ Day travel trips to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations, and instead giving their airplane and hotel budgets to typhoon victims, confident that their donations will reach the intended victims’ needs for food and clothes.

Catered lunches that used to define past All Saints’ Day celebration at family mausoleums in memorial parks are expected to be cancelled this year, given the sensibility of their neighbors across their opulent borders.

At the flower shops at Dangwa on Laon-Laan Street in Sampaloc, Manila, as well as in Divisoria, fresh blooms can still be had at mind-boggling prices as compared to those at the Farmers’ Market and, especially at air-conditioned fancy flower shops. Stall owners also accept flower arrangements if made ahead of time at jaw-dropping prices.

Anthuriums can be had within the price range of P80 to P120 a dozen depending on the buyer’s haggling skills, and so with roses, whether red, yellow or white.

A bunch of fresh Baby’s breathe sell at between P35 to P50, while carnations sell between P80 to P100 a bundle.

Ferns are normally given free by the flower vendors depending on purchase volume, but flower pots are sold starting at P20, depending on size.

While candles can be bought at two pieces for P5 at corner sari-sari stores, buyers can buy them at slightly cheaper prices in markets at P1.50 to P2 apiece, again depending on size.

In quality candle stores, their bigger and thick pieces sell starting at P29 a piece going higher as the size gets bigger. Store owners claim their candles cost higher than those in the market, “but our candles defy winds and last for hours, if not the whole day.”

However, despite the country’s severe financial meltdown that finds the worth of the peso tumbling down by the minute, All Saints’ Day traditions, being another occasion for a family reunion, will prevail among millions of Filipino families, perhaps minus the excesses.

While families brought more than substantial food in the past, preparations this year are expected to be less extravagant than past celebrations of All Saints’ Day.

Because age-old Filipino traditions are not easy to fade away, they stay for generations to come, even in the harshest of times.