BACOLOD City Councilor Bartolome Orola is pushing to amend the Section 2 of City Ordinance No.541, Series of 2011, allowing for the transfer of awards to the present market block or stall occupants.
Orola, chairperson of the City Council committee on markets, said on Friday, September 21, the proposed amendment was already passed on first reading and it will be tackled in the second reading next week.
“Illegal transfer or sub-leasing has been on-going in our public markets for so long, and as a way to rectify this situation, CO 541 aimed to straighten out the record of market leases and to put a stop to the illegal transferring and sub-leasing of market block or stall,” he said.
Orola noted that in 2013, several market block or stall occupants of the public markets of the city had requested to extend Section 2 of CO 541, which is the acceptance of the application for transfer of awards, which resulted to the passage of the CO No. 642.
Orola said a deadline for application was provided for CO 642, under Section 2, which stated that allocation for transfer of awards shall only be allowed until June 30, 2013, after which the Local Market Committee shall convene and take necessary action on the submitted applications.
He reiterated that sub-leasing and illegal transfers of market stalls or blocks are still rampant.
Orola said most vendors who were not the original awardee but are currently occupying the stalls, suffer needlessly and upon the whims of the original awardees who sub-leasing their blocks or stalls in circumvention of the provision of the Local Market Code.
He said the said vendor-occupants having no other recourse due to the probation of the Local Market Code on sub-leasing.
“So we will amend the Section 2 of the said ordinance that the application for transfer of wards shall be allowed for a period of six months only which shall start 15 days after publication of the Ordinance in the newspaper of local circulation. After which, the Local Market Committee shall convene and take necessary action of the submitted allocations,” Orola added.