THE Cebu City Government received P8 million in cash aid from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, and it will be distributed to the 400 street vendors affected by road clearing operations in the later part of 2019.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said the City will distribute P20,000 worth of goods to each of the vendors by next week.

Despite the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019, the mayor allowed the vendor to sell on the sidewalks again. The road clearing operations were suspended by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to give way to community quarantine measures implemented by local government units.

However, Labella set conditions for vendors to follow: they must maintain the sidewalks’ cleanliness, they must not obstruct pedestrians, they must go back home before the curfew starts at 8 a.m., and they must wear masks and offer hand sanitizer or alcohol for their customers.

Labella received the financial assitance from Dole 7 Assistant Director Lilia Estellore in the presence of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino.

Dino said other local government units can also avail themselves of the aid for their displaced vendors.

The DILG issued a memorandum instructing mayors to reclaim public roads used for private means, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order delivered during his State of the Nation Address in July 2019. (PAC / KAL)