…Or so one can’t be blamed for suspecting. Here’s why.
For the past hundred or so years, Carbon has been the economic lifeblood of small ambulant vendor families. As a bagsakan where farmers, fisherfolk and home-based small manufacturers directly sell their products at relatively low prices, it has helped many other families, institutions, restaurants, carinderias, sari-sari stores and even satellite markets to survive and prosper. Not the least of its services are the odd jobs it opens up to a motley group of manual laborers like cart pushers, cargo handlers, etc. Carbon has simply been a boon to small folks.
Admittedly Carbon can use a dose of modernization but definitely not privatization. This will kill a heritage public market that plays a significant role in the thriving informal economy of Cebu City. Moreover, if one reads the provisions of the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA), one sees that the City stands to earn even less than if it continues to run Carbon as a public market. Cebu City’s only advantage is that it does nothing but wait for its agreed net income.
So, why privatize?
Megawide is easy to figure out. It is a business enterprise that goes where profits can be made. But Cebu City is a public service agency sworn to provide the infrastructure needed by its citizens not just to survive but enjoy a prosperous life. And Carbon, to a satisfactory degree, has been one such economic infrastructure to a significant number of Cebu’s people.
One is thus compelled to suspect dark motives behind Cebu City’s decision (more like an obsession) to have Megawide run Carbon like a profit-oriented enterprise. One’s suspicion gains more traction with the underhanded way Cebu City went about securing the JVA. It conducted zero consultation with stakeholders and literally rammed the JVA down the throats of hapless small vendors. It egregiously shirked its responsibility to the bigger public to favor the relative few that can afford a world-class mall’s high-priced goods and services.
The JVA is so disadvantageous to Cebu City and the market’s stakeholders that one is led to suspect it was also conceived in corruption’s womb, just like flood control projects and so many other government projects. One certainly can’t be blamed for suspecting that something dark and unholy drove the City to sign an agreement that threatens the economic survival of a significant number of its people.
In fairness, the JVA is the baby of previous administration officials. Still, the current administration is duty-bound to correct the unconscionable wrong done to Carbon. But vendors have a pending case in court against Cebu City, which, considering the vagaries of our justice system, could take a long time to settle.
Hence, this appeal is that Cebu City and Megawide come together with Carbon Alliance officials and find win-win ways of preserving a heritage public market. We cannot let the indiscretion (corruption?) of a few city officials wash away Carbon market’s legacy of providing livelihood opportunities and affordable essential goods to the people of Cebu and neighboring islands.