BAGUIO CITY -- Mayor Mauricio Domogan urged the officials and employees of the city’s Public Order and Safety Division (POSD) to sustain the city’s aggressive anti-peddling campaign to rid the sidewalks and parks of ambulant vendors that are an eyesore to residents and visitors.
The local chief executive said through the unwavering and uncompromising efforts of the POSD personnel, sidewalks around the central business district area and parks in the different parts of the city were cleared of these vendors allowing pedestrians to freely roam around the city.
While there are still ambulant vendors who still pursue their illegal trade when POSD personnel is not around, he claimed there has been a significant improvement in the state of the city public market, sidewalks and parks to date compared to their state when the local government did not yet launch the massive anti-peddling campaign.
Further, Domogan noted the unnecessary extension of stalls in the various sections of the public market were also significantly reduced thereby instilling discipline among stallholders not to extend their stalls beyond the allowable .70 meters from the edge of their stalls.
“Our POSD personnel need to strengthen their coordination with the members of the Baguio City Police Office so that even illegally parked vehicles in the various sections of the public market will be removed as policemen are the ones mandated to implement traffic laws, rules and regulations as deputized by the Land Transportation Office,”Domogan stressed.
He encouraged the POSD personnel not to be discouraged by criticisms against their actions from ambulant vendors and stallholders who are affected by their strict implementation of market rules and regulations, saying that he is behind them as long as they are implementing their assigned duties and responsibilities.
According to him, there are still a number of sidewalk vendors who illegally peddle goods but the city government remains firm in helping clean the sidewalks and parks to allow to the smooth flow of pedestrian traffic.
Domogan reminded the POSD personnel to be circumspect in the implementation of the anti-peddling policy by making sure they are apprehending the real violators of the policy to avoid complaints that sometimes, vendors in satellite markets who leave the goods that they purchased from the market on the sidewalks are apprehended for violation of the anti-peddling policy, when in fact, they are just waiting for vehicles to ferry them from the market to their points of destination in the different barangays.
He advised POSD personnel to be always alert to the sudden presence of ambulant vendors along sidewalks and at various parks with the expected increase in visitor arrivals. (PR)