The observance of All Saints' Day in the province went on without any major incidents according to the police.
Except for experiencing delays in reaching the cemeteries because of the traffic, cemeterygoers observed November 1 as a normal All Saints' Day in most parts of the province.
The usual long queues of people walking from the designated entrance road to the cemeteries at the city proper in Antipolo were part of day 1 of the observance of remembering the dead among Filipino Catholics.
At the Our Lady of Peace Cemetery on Santo Nino Street in Antipolo City, peacekeepers, composed of volunteers from civic organizations, police, and barangay tanods, had to remind the cemetery goers on the ban on bringing in lighters and bladed instruments.
Cemeteries in Antipolo City will close at 9 p.m. on November 2 according to city government regulations (photo by Nel Andrade)
As the night fell, the crowd in other cemeteries on Sto. Nino Street grew bigger.
The city government has imposed a visiting hour of 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for October 31 to November 1, and from 6 a.m. up to 9 p.m. only for Nov. 2. in all cemeteries in the city. Regular visiting hours for other days are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In Morong, Rizal, the local government has designed a portion of the street leading to the public cemetery as a one-way street to prevent traffic build-up.
Army reservists were also deployed outside the cemeteries to augment the personnel of the Rizal Police Provincial Office who were manning the help or emergency desk near the main entrance of the cemeteries.
In Tanay, flower vendors occupied the front area of the transport terminal outside the public market, selling bouquets or baskets of flowers ranging from ₱150 to ₱500 depending on the type of flower and arrangement.
Flowers of various arrangements sell at P150 and up outside Tanay Public Market on November 1 (photo by Nel Andrade)
Police personnel said they confiscated several lighters, portable speakers, and guitars on Nov. 1.