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The season for remembering our dead loved ones is sometimes painful, yet for others it is the time they earn their living.
Ask Rodolfo "Opong" Abadejas, 45, who has been making tombstones or "lapida" for almost seven years.
With his P200 in earnings on ordinary days he has managed to send his children to school and feed them.
Two of his children have graduated from high school and have chosen to assist him in his shop while two are attending Hipodromo elementary school. The other two children are enrolled in Tejero night high school.
Abadejas' family resides at the back of the Carreta cemetery, but Rodolfo has his shop near the entrance, along the road. It is one of at least 20 shops outside the cemetery.
Rodulfo says his family looks forward to the the commemoration of All Saints and All Souls Day since it means big income for them.
"Tinuod jud na ang sulti sa uban nga kasakit para sa laing mga tawo ang mamatyan pero kalipay sad para namu kay naa napud magpahimo og lapida," he said in jest.
During November 1 and 2, they can earn at least P2,000 a day.
While Rodulfo and his sons are busy making tombstones, Rodulfo's wife Linda, 45, helps her husband make extra money by selling candles in the cemetery.
After All Souls Day some of the money is allocated to paying their debts for the materials used in making the tombstones; some is also saved for Christmas, Rodulfo says.
Rodulfo, who only reached high school, says he acquired his skills in lettering and engraving by observing other "lapida" makers. He worked as an assistant to a lapida maker in Carreta when he was still 14 years old.
He said that when he was young he found tombstone-making a lowly way to earn a living.
He changed his mind, though, once he made it his profession in order to support his family.
"Sauna ubos jud akong tan-aw sa mga manghimuanay og lapida kay looy kaayo gud sila tan-awon, pero karon ako nakita nga maayo ning trabahoa kaysa magkalisod jud mi nya mangawat na dayon," Rodulfo says.
But he admits he sometimes wonder if there are jobs that he could be better at.
"Naa jud panahon makahuna-huna ko nga maynta makakita kog laing trabaho, kay kini kapoy man gud jud."
He adds that have been sleeping at dawn for the the past three days to complete ordered tombstones.
Making tombstones is like catching fish, he says. Sometimes you can earn; sometimes you don't.
Tombstones differ in price depending on the size and type of stone used. A tombstone made of marble costs P1,500, granite tombstones cost P2,500, while colored porcelain granite tombstones cost P15,000.
