Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Stalls in 14 sites to be torn down
By Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- Leaders of some 3,000 Cebu City vendors are disappointed with the Osmeña administration and its plan to implement a massive demolition of sidewalk vendors' stalls.
Officials of the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA) threatened to hold a major rally if the stalls in 14 areas in the city are torn down.
In a press conference at the Unit 3 Carbon market Tuesday, CCUVA chairperson Maria Pino and some 200 other vendors appealed to Mayor Tomas Osmeña to reconsider his plans because 3,000 to 4,000 vendors stand to lose their livelihood.
Pino, a former consultant of the mayor on vendors' affairs, said their livelihood should not be compromised by the City's beautification projects for the Asean summit in December.
They should not also be blamed for traffic congestion and obstruction of sidewalks, the vendors said.
No politics is involved in their protest activities, Pino said, but it cannot be avoided that some members will withdraw their support for the mayor.
"We will really be disappointed with the mayor if the demolition pushes through because ever since we have cooperated with City Hall. If our stalls are removed, we cannot stop our members from withdrawing their support for the mayor," she said.
The vendors asked what happened to the promise of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) during the last elections to include them in development projects, and not to demolish their stalls.
Gerry Marquez, the mayor's consultant on urban poor affairs, said that contrary to the allegations of the vendors, they have not demolished any stall yet as of Tuesday.
"We only gave them a notice to clear all sidewalks within 15 days. If nothing happens, that's when we will start the demolition," he said.
The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) submitted a report to the mayor's office identifying 14 areas in the city where the sidewalks are occupied by vendors.
Citom Executive Officer Arnel Tancinco said the pedestrians are forced to use the roads, exposing them to danger.
The areas identified are Colon St., Fuente-Osmeña rotunda, Salinas Drive and Gorordo Ave. junction, B. Rodriguez St., Jose Solon Drive, N. Bacalso Ave., Magallanes St., Osmeña Blvd., P. del Rosario St., Legaspi St., Pelaez St., Panganiban St., Leon Kilat St. and the vicinity of the University of San Jose-Recoletos.
Vendors in these areas will be removed by the end of the month if they do not cooperate with the City Government, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said.
During their press conference with the vendors, Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta appealed to the mayor to allow the vendors to continue with their business since they are all willing to help keep the city clean and orderly.
He also called on the City Government to be more transparent and not to blame traffic congestion on the vendors when it only wants to get rid of the vendors in time for the Asean summit in December.
"Transparent lang unta tanan because we are ready to cooperate for the Asean summit. If we are blamed for vehicular accidents and congestion, tinapulan, binugo ug binuang na na (that's out of laziness, stupidity and craziness). I believe this is all because of Asean summit," said Rupinta, a BO-PK ally.
Fernandez admitted that keeping the sidewalks free of any obstruction is part of the preparations for the summit. But more importantly, Citom only wants the sidewalks in the city to serve their purpose, which is primarily for the pedestrians and not the vendors.
He said that in the coming weeks, the City will try to work out an arrangement with the vendors for the latter to address the complaints of Citom.
"Two weeks after, if we find out that the problems persist or have gotten worse, then we will push through with the demolition. But if we see that there is improvement, then we'll allow them to stay. We'll give them two weeks to comply," Fernandez said. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 12, 2006 issue)
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