THE Bacolod City Local Market Committee (LMC) has postponed the raffle of the stalls at the Libertad Public Market Annex Building on Monday, February 20.
This was after some of the vendors complained that their names were allegedly not included in the masterlist, City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said Wednesday, February 22.
At least 200 stalls were supposed to be raffled on Monday
Maghari along with the members of the LMC including the City Treasurer’s Office, City Legal Office, City Council committee on markets, and vendors association president held a meeting Wednesday, February 22, and discussed the complaints of some vendors.
Maghari said they already directed the market heads to submit the master list and review the names of the vendors.
"The LMC agreed to consider those who are not included in the master list. It’s a detailed review so that everybody can join the raffle for the stalls. So we are postponing the raffle so we can validate the master list," he said.
He added that they will require the vendors to submit their complete documents to determine that they are residents of Bacolod.
Maghari noted that on Monday, they raffled 27 stalls for the fruit vendors, and about seven vendors were not accommodated.
"After the fruit section, we will raffle next the stalls at the dry goods section at the Annex Building," Maghari said.
Aside from the Libertad Public Market, he said the LMC will also raffle the stalls for the vendors at Burgos Public Market and Central Public Market.
For her part, Councilor Celia Matea Flor, chairperson of the City Council committee on market, said the stalls are not enough for the vendors, so they need to raffle the stalls so that it will be fair for everybody.
"We will find a solution on how to accommodate those who will be displaced in the area. We will not allow them to lose their livelihood, we will find options. We will not abandon our vendors," she added.
Flor admitted that they had lapses in not reviewing the master list.
She also asked for the cooperation of the vendors for a peaceful distribution of the stalls in the public markets.*