THE recent confirmation by the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) that it has no record of a reported P6,000 monthly stall rental at the Colon Night Market has exposed a major gap in financial oversight, signaling that substantial sums of public money may be transacting outside the City’s official accounting system. The controversy, sparked by reports of unauthorized collections from vendors, highlights the systemic challenge of managing informal economies on public property and ensuring that City assets benefit the public coffers, not private interests.
What happened
City Treasurer Emma Villarete clarified that the CTO only collects the official daily vending fee, known as arkabala, from vendors at the Colon Night Market. These official rates are small — P20 for food stalls and P30 for non-food stalls — and are duly receipted and remitted to the City.
The treasurer’s statement was in response to a disclosure by Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr., who reported that some vendors were allegedly being charged a monthly stall rental of P6,000. The councilor claimed the Participative Association of Sugbo Vendors Inc. was managing the market, but the recipient of the alleged unauthorized P6,000 fee remains unknown. Villarete confirmed the CTO has no record or knowledge of this P6,000 fee, stressing that the City’s official concern only covers the legal daily arkabala collection on the public road. Compounding the financial oversight issue, Villarete also revealed that there are no official records of payment for the electricity used by the night market vendors.
Why it matters
The reported collection of significant unauthorized fees raises serious questions about financial accountability, corruption and the loss of potential public revenue.
If vendors are paying a substantial P6,000 monthly fee for stalls that should only require a P20-P30 daily fee, an immense amount of money is being collected and diverted away from city coffers. This suggests the privatization of a public asset (the street) for profit without the City’s authorization or public benefit. The scandal weakens trust in local governance and undermines the City’s ability to maximize revenue from its own public spaces. Furthermore, the lack of oversight on basic utilities, such as the untraced electricity source, reinforces the need for stricter regulation to ensure safety and prevent informal arrangements from dominating a major commercial hub.
The bigger picture
This incident illustrates the administrative fragility of managing informal vendor sectors in rapidly urbanizing Philippine cities.
Markets operating on public roads, such as Colon, are critical parts of the local economy, providing livelihoods for thousands and affordable goods for consumers. However, their informal nature makes them prone to being exploited by middlemen or syndicates that charge vendors “protection” money or excessive “rental” fees outside of official channels. This pattern of unauthorized collection is a recurring challenge for local governments across the country, where organizations or specific groups claim de facto control over lucrative public spaces. The current controversy follows the previous regulation of such markets by bodies like the Garbo Asenso Sumbanan Alyansa sa Gugma (Gasa) board, established precisely to promote transparency and accountability in the vendor sector. The alleged P6,000 fee indicates that efforts to formalize these markets have been circumvented.
What to watch
The immediate focus is on the City’s ability to aggressively investigate the alleged P6,000 collections and hold the perpetrators accountable, while simultaneously formalizing the market’s operations.
Will the shift to formal permits eliminate the unauthorized fees? The CTO is currently processing special permits for vendors that will cover operations from Oct. 16 to Dec. 31. This system, which requires a single payment of an estimated P2,525 for the entire period, is designed to streamline collections and promote transparency. The success of this move will be measured by whether the remaining 500 vendors transition to the official permit system and if reports of unofficial monthly fees permanently cease. Failure to formalize these operations could mean a continuous cycle of unauthorized collections, leaving the City powerless to control its own streets and revenue.