Mindanaotoday.com | Carmen vendors urge Uy for more favorable location
By: Franck Dick Rosete
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Several sidewalk vendors selling their wares outside the Carmen public market were happy after the city government planned to organize them, but some of the merchants were humbly asking City Mayor Rolando Uy to provide a location that won’t affect their income.
Jaypee Abelano, one of the sidewalk sellers along the V. Castro Street who sells fried food items, said he received unverified information from his co-vendors that they would be transferred to a less populated area.
“Kung ugaling ibalhin man lang mi, mas maayo nga unta dili sad maapektohan amo kita (If we were being transferred, it would be better that it shouldn’t also affect our income),” Abelano, who is also a resident of Barangay Carmen, said in an interview on Sunday, April 16.
Abelano has mainly sold chicken “proben” – the proventriculus of a chicken dipped in cornstarch or flour and deep-fried – for over five months now, and a location that will be organized by the local government, he said, will actually help them sell their goods peacefully and without fear from the surprise raid by the authorities here.
Apart from asking for a better location for business, another sidewalk vendor also asked the local chief executive to allow them to sell their goods at an earlier time just in case the plan to organize the Carmen sidewalk vendors has been fully implemented.
Marisol (not her real name) made the comment referring to the similar implementation of the city government to the street vendors outside Cogon public market where they are only allowed to sell their goods from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“Basin parehason sa Cogon nga alas 6 na magbaligya. Wala naman tao ana (Maybe it’s the same as Cogon that sells at 6 o’clock. There was no one at that time),” Marisol, who also sells chicken “proben,” said in a separate interview on Sunday, stressing that the Carmen area was different compared to the Cogon area, which is the busiest.
Marisol normally starts selling around 10:00 in the morning in preparation for lunchtime, and that is until 7:00 in the evening when the number of people outside Carmen’s public market starts to lessen.
Abelano, on the other hand, patiently sells his fried goods until 10 p.m. to have a better daily income.
In his response, Uy said there was still no proposed area intended for the sidewalk vendors in Carmen, but he wanted to place them in one area.
“Kanang mga sidewalk vendors, sama sa Cogon nga ma-usa ra sila. So, ang mga suki nila o mamalitay mutultol nalang gyud mismo sa usa ka lugar asa dapit mahimutang ang atong mga sidewalk vendors. (Like Cogon, those sidewalk vendors [in Carmen] can sell in one place. So, their customers will only lead to a place where our sidewalk vendors are located),” Uy said in an interview on Monday, April 17.
As to the selling time request, Uy explained that implementing the 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. schedule would give fair opportunities to others, saying that areas that have been occupied by the sidewalk vendors should also be used, especially by commuters and vehicles during rush hours.
As of this writing, the chief executive was still waiting for the final count of the sidewalk vendors in Carmen.
On April 11, the City Economic Enterprises and Business Development Administration tallied over 160 sidewalk vendors outside the Carmen public market, specifically in the streets of V. Castro and Ipil. The said office is still continuing with the profiling process.
Abelano also asked the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) to be humane in raiding the sidewalk vendors, as they only wanted to make a living.
He asked RTA to provide a simple warning prior to the actual confiscation while there was still no intended area for the sidewalk vendors.
Marisol echoed Abelano’s comment, but she said that the raid by the authorities under the leadership of Uy was not that brutal compared to the previous administration. (MT)
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