SOME 40 vendors at Burgos Public Market in Bacolod City were removed during the clearing operation conducted by a task force composed of the City Legal Enforcement Unit, Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO), and Market Coordinating and Monitoring (MCMF) Wednesday morning.

Executive Assistant Ernie Pineda, cluster head on markets, said the vendors were already occupying the road and it’s illegal.

Pineda said the vendors should only occupy the one-meter space from the gutter. Also, they are only allowed to sell in the area from 3 p.m. to 8 a.m.

“They should clear the area by 8 a.m. in order to not affect the traffic situation along Burgos Street,” he added.

Before the clearing operations, the team held a meeting with the market vendors as well as officials of market association and Barangay 19.

Pineda said that it’s part of the city’s program to regulate the vendors at the three big public markets.

Aside from Burgos Public Market, the two other markets are Central Market and Libertad Market.

In March, the city government already removed the illegal vendors from these markets. However, they returned after the elections.

Pineda said they want to regulate illegal vendors to maintain cleanliness.

The measure is also seen to address the traffic problems among public markets.

Pineda said the market supervisors were tasked to monitor these erring vendors to prohibit them in selling food and vegetables within the road.

“The MCMF will also intensify its monitoring to regulate other vendors in three big public markets in the city,” he added.