THE night-market vendors in downtown Cebu City have been ordered to temporarily stop their operations.
This was the instruction the Public Restoration, Order, Beautification, and Enhancement (Probe) relayed to around 300 vendors.
The night market occupies a portion of Legaspi St. near Colon St.
Probe head Raquel Arce said Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella wants to meet first with the vendors to discuss the operation guidelines of the night market.
She said the night market will resume after the meeting with Labella.
The meeting with Labella was scheduled Friday, July 5, 2019, but it was called off after the mayor was still on his way back to Cebu from an out-of-town trip. No new date has been set yet.
In an interview, Labella said he wants to get rid of the negative practices of the night market’s operations. He did not give details.
The mayor wants all vendors to enjoy equal privileges.
“There should not be one (person) who will take advantage over the others. I want everyone to have their fair share,” Labella told SunStar Cebu.
He also asked the Cebu City Traffic Operations to scrutinize the night market’s impact on the traffic in the area.
The mayor is hopeful the vendors will agree with him that selling along the sidewalks should be done away with since they will be given enough time to operate at night.
For her part, Arce said the vendors will be told about the requirements and guidelines that they have to follow so they would be excluded from Probe’s clearing operations.
Before they are allowed to sell their wares, Arce said, vendors have to comply with the requirements—clearance from the Sto. Niño barangay office as the night market occupies a portion within the barangay’s jurisdiction, and a special permit from the City Treasurer’s Office.
Arce said the permits’ duration is only for a month.
The Probe head said there is a plan to expand the night market to a good stretch of Colon Street—from a corner where Metro Gaisano store is located up to the street’s historical marker in Parian. The market’s schedule, she said, is still 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
As to the vendors’ payments, Arce said they are often given a month to settle their dues.
The vendors are hoping to meet the mayor soon, so they can resume operating their respective businesses as most of them have no other means of income.
“I hope they can fast-track the process so we can display our items again,” said Omen Hadjijalil, one of the night market vendors. (JJL)