Cebu folks ought to know what’s good for them and join the Save Carbon Public Market Movement that a determined group of vendors launched Monday last week. Privatizing Carbon Market creates more problems than it solves for the whole Cebu community.
Cebu City should definitely modernize Carbon to make it provide Cebu and the Visayas with clean and safe basic goods. But it cannot privatize Carbon without violating its constitutional duty to provide these necessities at Carbon’s cultural affordable prices. Privatization essentially deforms Carbon from a friendly service-oriented public market into a heartless profit-oriented mall. And that’s where the trouble begins.
I don’t mind sounding like a broken record here, but once privatized, small ambulant vendors, contrary to a recent court opinion, will definitely be displaced. They have no place in a world-class mall for the well-heeled. Also displaced will be the ragged small-farmer-fisher producers who sell directly in Carbon. With them will go equally ragged individuals who eke out a living pushing carts and helping vendors with miscellaneous chores.
As these main characters are taken out, affordable prime commodities like food, clothing and varied household items will also disappear. As prices go up, low-income and moderate-income households will lose a source of affordable basic commodities. Small businesses that procure their merchandize from Carbon also stand to succumb to high prices.
One important but often forgotten reason to prevent Carbon from being privatized is to teach our political leaders that from now on they cannot neglect the welfare of ordinary citizens without negative consequences to their political careers. It was utterly irresponsible and heartless of previous administrations to turn over Carbon Public Market to the vagaries of profit-making. It is equally heartless of current officials to equivocate on the vendors’ request for a review of a JVA (joint venture agreement) that is clearly anti-poor.
(Incidentally, since the JVA is anti-poor, I’m calling out the Catholic Church of Cebu to lend its influence to the movement to save Carbon. That is if it has a mind and heart to exercise its vaunted option for the poor,)
Without profit, business fails. But government never fails because it does not depend on profits but on property and sales taxes, on fees for all transactions with government. If it fails (to provide basic services?), it will not be for lack of funds. It will be, as is suspected in the case of Carbon or as assumed in flood control projects, because comfortable amounts of cash exchange hands.
Development is providing roads people can use to walk, run or ride towards a quality life this side of heaven. In privatizing Carbon, Cebu City officials are instead herding small folks on to a world-class highway that leads to a living hell.
Although a local court has denied their prayer for a temporary restraining order, vendors know they have a good chance of winning the main case against the JVA that is still to be heard. They could also file additional cases if necessary. In any case, giving up is not an option. They know too well that disaster awaits at the end of the privatization highway they are forced to traverse.