Sidewalk vendors barred in Bacolod downtown area

BACOLOD City Executive Assistant Ernesto Pineda reiterated to all sidewalk vendors that they are still barred from selling in the downtown area.

Pineda, cluster head on markets, on Monday, May 17, 2021, said some vendors still tried to display their products downtown.

He said personnel of Police Station 1 along with the City Legal Office-Enforcement Team were deployed at the downtown area Monday and warned vendors to vacate the area.

On May 12, Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag, director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Bacolod, sent a letter to Mayor Evelio Leonardia reminding him to continue the implementation of the Road Clearing Operation 2.0 (RC0 2.0).

Madayag said it has been observed that cleared roads were not sustained and several road obstructions along downtown areas and major city roads proliferated again, such as vehicles parked in prohibited areas and vending sites for all sorts of items or sidewalk vendors.

“Our transition to the new normal calls for the need to ensure that our roads remain safe, accessible and free from illegal and potentially hazardous encroachments,” she said.

Pineda said sidewalk vendors should occupy their stalls at the Bacolod Vendor’s Plaza so that they will not be arrested by authorities.

“We provided them a space at the Bacolod Vendor’s Plaza so they should display their products in the area to avoid penalties. We understand their situation, but they should follow the law because it’s a national directive to clear the streets,” Pineda said.

He said it is the alternative of the City Government to transfer them to the Bacolod Vendor’s Plaza so they should use the area and not go back on streets.

In previous years, more than 900 sidewalk stalls from illegal vendors in Bacolod who were occupying the public roads were removed in compliance with the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to rid public streets of obstructions to facilitate the orderly use of thoroughfares.

Pineda said barangay officials should also sustain cleared roads within their areas of jurisdiction to avoid sanctions or penalties.