A WOMAN cried when she heard that the stall she owned for more than 50 years will be removed on P. Gullas St. corner Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City.

The Tabo sa Banay stall owners will be removed once the Colon Revitalization Project headed by City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo, together with City Engineer Jose Marie Poblete, is fully implemented.

Anabel Lucido, 47, Tabo sa Banay Vendor Association (TSBVA) treasurer, a resident of Alaska, Mambaling, said she has been selling in the area for decades.

Lucido is married with eight children.

“That statement to remove us from this venue, it seems unreasonable because we’re very poor. What should we do?” Lucido said.

Lucido said she will ask for help from higher officials.

But another informal stall owner supports the government’s plan to remove them, although he is displeased by it.

“For me, I would follow the will of the government. We have also a president so he will be the one to facilitate our request,” Mario Villafuerte, 72, TSBVA member said.

“But hopefully there’s an alternative way to solve the problem without removing us from here,” he said.

Source of income

Leaving the area would be a problem for the vendors because it uproots them from their source of income.

“If I had my way, I won’t leave,” Rosalia Ugsimar,” 70, TSBVA member, said in Cebuano.

For TSBVA president Jose Rabaca, transferring would be hard as they are not sure if there’s business wherever they might relocate.

“If ever the place is far, it will slowly kill my family and those of my members. Their children might stop going to school and become a problem to the community,” he said. (Florencio V. Cagalitan Jr., Palompon Institute of Technology AB Comm Intern)