BAGUIO City Councilor Mylen Yaranon is opposing any plans to privatize the Baguio City Public Market.
“I stick to my decision: the Baguio City Public Market should never be given to a private corporation, it should be developed by the City Government. Both unsolicited proposals either by Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) or SM Prime Holdings (SM) are deficient, which should both be rejected,” Yaranon said.
Last week, Mayor Benjamin Magalong signed Memorandum 433 series of 2020, awarding the Original Proponent Status (OPS) to SM, disapproving the previous awarding to RLC.
Yaranon said both malls have failed to preserve the heritage area.
“Both did not consider the topography of the area and have not considered nor prioritized the needs of the market vendors, the bagsakan area and the market-goers. They are only interested in the return of their investment by prioritizing their own mall,” Yaranon said.
The decision was based on factors like the completeness of documents, area to be developed, modality, project duration, financial viability, technical design, economic benefits and environmental consideration.
The councilor has always opted for a government-funded Baguio public market by either realigning unused funds or a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines.
Yaranon said a bond floatation can also finance the whole cost of the market.
“We can also bid out the management of the market. What is important is that the whole market will be a public market--no malls. And we should not forget that the development is in four phases,” added Yaranon.
Yaranon said phase 1 is the wet section at the Hangar area. The existing stalls here may be relocated to the old Rabbit station. Once the wet section is done, they can be transferred to the finished phase 1 building. Phase 1 also includes the installation of a main sewer and storm drainage.
The councilor said phase 2 is the improvement of the old wet section, to be converted into the dry goods section.
Phase 3 will be the improvement of the fruits and vegetable section. Vendors can temporarily transfer to the front old stone market/heritage area and Rabbit Station while the structure is being built. This phase also includes rehabilitation of the bagsakan area at Hilltop.
Phase 4 will now entail the rehabilitation of the old stone market and heritage area, which will house the flower section and creative artists.
The second floor will be an elevated walkway for pedestrians from Malcolm, Center Mall and the Maharlika connecting to the second floor of the market.
“Phase 4 also includes the main driveway for loading and unloading of PUVs (public utility vehicles) and the entrance of private cars to the basement parking. Quite complicated but very manageable,” Yaranon said.
On technical design, Magalong said SM provided substantial details, although with some deficiencies that can be a subject for negotiation. The submitted technical designs of RLC are "not professionally prepared and lacked details for a thorough evaluation."
The electronic mail from RLC received by the P4-SC secretariat said they can only submit the Detailed Engineering Design for the market once they are declared as the OPS. This is a show of resistance to comply with the requirements of the P4-SC.
On economic benefits, the mayor said SM provided more detailed estimates of economic benefits while RLC did not provide substantial data as a basis for evaluation, and most of the descriptive benefits are too generic.
For environmental consideration, SM provides building design featuring environmentally friendly facilities for the public market such as a water treatment facility with a tertiary plant, well-designed Materials Recovery Facility to handle solid waste separating the biodegradable and nonbiodegradable wastes, a separate and controlled room for hazardous waste and a green sky garden.
Tongtongan ti Umili has also raised opposition on the decision of the mayor to award the OPS to SMPI, saying the move to award the OPS to rehabilitate the Baguio City Public Market only goes to show that the mayor is keener on favoring the interests of big corporations rather than the citizens he is supposed to serve.