Many netizens are saddened by the loss of stalls in Freedom Park and Warwick Barracks to give way to the ongoing development to modernize the Carbon Public Market, the biggest farmers’ market in Cebu and probably in the whole of the Visayas.
Their sentiments have appeared in local publications, while some have even made it nationally.
They all shared a common lament, which is understandable since most of them happened to be former students of the university right across the affected site. And so they paid tribute to the men and women who operated eateries that offered affordable meals.
One netizen went as far as to say that the cheap food helped her survive college.
And I’m pretty sure it did. But I bet you if she had a choice she would have gone somewhere else. And I doubt she still took her meals there after graduation.
I’m just saying.
Actually I was looking for posts from people who frequented the area because they enjoyed the food on offer, but I didn’t find any.
Mind you they exist because I’d see a lot of them devour more than one order of corn or rice which they down with bowls of steaming soup when I go to Carbon to purchase vegetables, meat and whatnot.
And yet they’ve been unusually quiet. Maybe it’s because they’re too busy getting on with their lives. Or maybe it’s because they know that their favorite eateries will probably set up shop in the new area in the interim market that has been set aside for them.
Ah, some of you probably didn’t know that. Well now you do.
You see, the Cebu City Government and the developer are not as heartless as you think. They have prepared a place where owners of stalls who were affected by the recent demolition order could continue with their livelihood. That was part of the agreement.
And yet all focus has been on the “demolition” and the “anticipation of incurring losses.” Meanwhile, there has been no mention of members of the public who welcome this development, who are tired of the squalid conditions in the area.
Let’s face it. Critics of this joint-venture project have been hard at work trying to change the narrative.
And why is that?
Many of the stakeholders have already admitted that they don’t object to the modernization plan, but they vehemently oppose the privatization of the public market.
And that’s the crux of the matter. There’s no need to romanticize the whole thing.