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Thursday, April 06, 2006
Night market to continue: Mabilog
By Lory Ann B. Bilbao
DESPITE the withdrawal of some sidewalk vendors from the Night Market due to reportedly low income, the author of the ordinance, City Councilor Jed Patrick Mabilog, said it would go on without them.
Mabilog said there are many more vendors who are interested in acquiring stalls in the night market area.
Mabilog called the vendors-complainants "bonjing" (limp) "because kinahanglan pa nila nga yayuhan sang City Government (because they needed to have a nanny)."
He also lambasted the said vendors for expecting the government for doing everything in order for their business to succeed.
"The other vendors at the night market have tried ways to attract customers," he said.
Assessment
Before he could give a privilege speech containing the assessment of the night market, Mabilog said he will wait after the one month experimentation ends.
He is hoping that the night market will not fail because the City Government has been doing its best to fill the needs of the vendors and the project itself.
Last Tuesday, City Mayor Jerry P. Trenas granted the request of some sidewalk vendors to go back to their old post after they complained of not earning much from the night market.
During the opening last March 31, sales were up, but when Sunday came, there were almost no sales at all, the complainants said. They include the 100 vendors who were formerly selling along St. Paul's area, Quezon-Mabini, Valeria, Arroyo and Arsenal streets and Freedom Grandstand area.
Despite the outcome of the dry run of the night market, Trenas said there were more vendors who were interested with joining the same.
The night market aims to legalize the conduct of business by small time vendors. It gives the small time vendors the chance to have a space provided by the city government for their goods at P20 lease per night.
Most of the vendors were allowed to get a space were small time vendors who do business along the city's main streets without permits from City Hall.
Food fests highlighted the Night Market along Muelle Loney area to the foot of Quirino bridge up to the corner of Yulo Street.
Mabilog in Wednesday's regular session initially assessed the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Swot) of the Night Market.
Among the strength of the night market enumerated by Mabilog were the environmental soundness of the area for shoppers, security in the environment, the cleanliness of the city without sidewalk vendors around, abundance of parking space and the legalization of selling among small-time vendors.
Its weakness are traffic congestion, longer route for truckers, delay of operation due to the traffic, low sales on Sundays, the absence of a place to stay when it rains, stalls are too heavy to mobilize, limited time of selling, the lack of dry goods vendors as there are mostly food peddlers present.
He discussed though that the opportunities it bring both to the City Government and the vendors were the chance that the area be claimed a tourist destination.
The threats include the low income of vendors and environmental violations.
(April 6, 2006 issue)
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