LOCAL VENDORS Versus The PANDEMIC | (in the PHILIPPINES)

Pea and her companion Jen take viewers on a walking tour of the Dumaguete City wet market during the pandemic, interviewing street vendors and market sellers about their incomes, how COVID-19 has affected their earnings, and what their plans are if things get worse. The video doubles as a practical guide showing exactly where ordinary Filipinos shop, what things cost, and how families stretch tiny budgets — with the bleak recurring discovery that almost nobody has savings or a backup plan.

• Street mango vendor (first stop, Kazan Park area)

  • Selling unwrapped mangoes as typical street food — 10 pesos each (about 20 cents USD)
  • Pays the government 10 pesos per day for permission to sell on the street
  • Daily income during pandemic: about 300 pesos (~$6 USD)
  • Income before pandemic: about 600 pesos (~$12 USD) — cut roughly in half

• Nanay Marily — elderly vegetable vendor on the street

  • A grandmother ("nanay") who has only been selling for two months; before that she cared for grandchildren while their parents (married to construction workers) worked
  • She doesn't own the vegetables she sells — she gets them from someone else and earns only a percentage of each sale
  • Products and prices: Baguio beans 20 pesos/pack (~$0.40), chayote 20 pesos for 4 pieces, garlic 20 pesos for 5 pieces
  • Pea explains why Filipinos buy in tiny retail quantities — they can't afford bulk purchasing, but can feed about six adults on 300 pesos a day by buying small amounts daily
  • Nanay Marily's daily income: only 100–150 pesos ($2–$3 USD)
  • Works 7 days a week, 6 AM to 5 PM — 11 hours a day
  • Pays 10 pesos daily (~$0.20) for permission to sell
  • Has no savings — all earnings go straight to food
  • Her husband is sick and she is the sole provider for the family

• Ate Gina — street vendor selling snacks, candy, biscuits, and water

  • Net profit on a good day: 300 pesos (~$6 USD)
  • On rainy days: as low as 60 pesos ($1.20 USD)
  • Before pandemic: earned 600–700 pesos/day — pandemic cut income by 50% or more
  • If lockdown continues: expects zero income
  • Has no savings
  • Works 7 days a week, rain or shine, 9–10 hours per day
  • Has one child, a 21-year-old son still in school whom she supports
  • Used to work in the laundry department at Lee Plaza hotel
  • Five-year plan: for her son to finish school and to keep surviving by selling

• The "new normal" — pandemic details observed during the walk

  • Long queues outside banks — people can only enter on their assigned day
  • Temperature checks by guards before entering any establishment, including fast food restaurants
  • Beggars stationed outside the Catholic church (Dumaguete Diocese / Saint Matthew)

• Inside the Dumaguete wet market — vegetable area

  • Vendors pay 33 pesos (~$0.66) for their market stall permits
  • Pea explains this is where common Filipinos shop daily because supermarkets are too expensive
  • Specific prices: tomatoes 60 pesos/kilo (~$1.20 for 2.2 lbs), squash sold per piece at 10 pesos (~$0.20) per 400g piece
  • Pea buys a full bag of vegetables for 80 pesos — less than $2 USD total
  • A vegetable vendor interviewed says if the pandemic continues there will be no income, has no savings, no plans — "just living every day, depends on the customers"

• Flower section of the wet market

  • Flowers sold by the piece: 20 pesos (~$0.40) for most flowers, 30 pesos (~$0.60) for roses
  • A set/bouquet runs about 150 pesos (~$3 USD), lasting about a week
  • Flower vendors pay the government 100 pesos (~$2) per week as market rent
  • Open 7 days a week, 7 AM to 5 PM
  • Average daily net profit: 300 pesos (~$6 USD)
  • Before pandemic: earned 1,000–2,000 pesos/day depending on occasions and events
  • Plan B if pandemic continues: switch from flowers to selling plants instead

• Fish and meat area

  • Tiny octopus: 140 pesos/kilo (~$3 USD)
  • Fish: approximately 160 pesos/kilo (~$3.20)
  • Tilapia and lapu-lapu (grouper) available — Pea notes lapu-lapu shares a name with the local hero from Cebu City

• Kuya Richard — fruit vendor selling grapes

  • Grapes: 150 pesos/kilo (~$3 USD); gives Pea a discount to 120 pesos
  • Gets his stock from different suppliers depending on who has the best product
  • Daily capital (investment in stock): 1,200 pesos (~$24 USD)
  • Average daily net income: 550 pesos (~$11 USD)
  • Family: wife and one child, age 9, in grade 4 — he is the sole breadwinner
  • Before pandemic: earned about 1,000–1,800 pesos/day — pandemic cut income roughly 50%
  • Five-year plan: "a better life" for himself; for his child to stay healthy and continue school
  • Plan B if lockdown continues: none — just keep selling
  • Has small savings: manages to save about 50 pesos/day (~$1 USD)
  • Pea notes he's the only vendor interviewed who saves anything at all

• The "BJ for 40 cents" segment

  • Pea teases that she'll show where to get a "BJ" for 40 cents — reveals it's buko juice (fresh coconut juice)
  • 20 pesos per coconut (~$0.40 USD)
  • Notes that buko juice is high in electrolytes, better than Gatorade

• Pea's overall takeaways

  • Filipinos generally have no savings and no Plan B or C
  • If the virus worsens and triggers another major lockdown, "we might just starve to death"
  • Filipinos buy everything in tiny quantities — salt, pepper, chili powder, oyster sauce — purchasing only what they need for that day
  • This is how ordinary Filipinos survive: daily purchasing, daily earning, no buffer

What's Covered ​

📺 Watch the full video on YouTube

🔔 Subscribe to The Filipina Pea