MANILA: As the predominantly Catholic Philippines celebrates one of its most important annual holidays on Thursday, many Filipinos have been forced to rethink their traditional Christmas celebrations amid soaring prices.
This year, street food vendor Gemma Gracia is among those who will keep her business open during the holidays.
“As a vendor, I’ve felt the prices go up since I also still buy at the market for our needs and for our selling needs,” she told Arab News.
But as celebrating Christmas was important for her family, the 39-year-old has allocated 1,000 Philippine pesos ($17) for a family meal out at Jollibee, the Philippines’ biggest fast-food chain restaurant.
“When you don’t have food to share on the table on this holiday, it’s a sad day. That’s why we make sure that we always have something on the table each year,” she said.
