CLO denies cooking confiscated items

BACOLOD City – The City Legal Office (CLO) is denying the allegation that they were cooking the fish confiscated following an apprehension of erring market vendors here.

A netizen, and reportedly one of the vendors, alleged through a social media post with accompanying photos that a member of the CLO’s City Enforcement Team (CET) was frying the fish they had confiscated from the vendors at the Libertad Market.

Rey Demisana, head of CET, maintained that there is no truth to the allegation.

He explained that the fish being cooked by his team member were their viand, and were bigger in size compared to the confiscated ones.

Demisana added that none of them will attempt to benefit from their confiscations, as they are aware of the consequences, including the termination of service.

In a Facebook post, a netizen that goes by the name Ken John wrote on Tuesday night: “Isa ko sa mga vendors sa Libertad Public Market kag saksi ko sa nakita ko. Ang nag- send ni sakon sang picture amo ni ang ging kwaan binalde nga isda, locus kag iban pa. And gusto ya nga ako ma- post nga makalab-ot sa kadam-an.” The CET is strictly implementing City Ordinance ( CO) No. 1009 regulating vending in the city, which assigns vending spaces at a prescribed time, as well as CO No. 394, or the revised local market code. A corresponding fine of P 300, P 500, and P 1,000 for the first, second, and third offenses, respectively, will be imposed on violators.

Confiscated products, meanwhile, shall be retrieved from the Local Market Committee after payment of corresponding fines.

But Dem is ana said perishable items will be donated by the city government to charitable institutions if a vendor fails to retrieve the confiscated products at a given time.

Councilor Celia Flor, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on market, said she will seek clearer implementation guidelines from the CLO following the allegation.

She said the team must issue a ticket to the apprehended person so that the vendor has proof when retrieving the confiscated products./