Lower fees for market vendors pushed
After receiving complaints from market vendors, a Cebu City councilor is proposing to decrease the market rates in city-owned and city-operated markets.
Councilor Alvin Arcilla has pushed for an amendment to the City Ordinance 2486, reducing the existing market entrance fees.
The councilor wants a 20 to 50 percent cut in the market fees, which are collected from all transient vendors or consignee of any commodity or merchandise brought into the premises and or the surrounding of the cityowned and operated markets.
“As requested by the vendors organization and endorsed by market authority, atong gi-decrease kay rason niana ang TRAIN law daw plus ni mahal na pod ang fuel,” Arcilla said.
The amendatory ordinance, which sets new rates for market entrance fees, was referred to the City Council’s committee on laws, ordinances, and styling for its comments and recommendations.
Based on the measure, for instance, the fee for a sack of rice or corn would be reduced by half or P2.50 from P5.
For a regular (P10) and large (P12) box of mangoes, lanzones, grapes, apples and oranges, among others would be lowered to P8 and P10, respectively.
From P100 per head of large cattle, Arcilla proposed to reduce it to P70. The P100 per head per 100 kilograms of hogs, on the other hand, would be cut down by half or P50.
Arcilla said he received several position papers from different vendor organizations and associations, requesting for the market fees’ reduction.
“The recent rounds of increases in the prices of oil and oil products, the implementation of the TRAIN Law which was not implemented yet during the formulation and passage of the City Market Code of 2017…have heavily taken their toll on our small time retailing and livelihood activities in the city owned and operated public markets,” a portion of the vendors’ letter to the City Council read.
The letters and complaints were also furnished to the city’s Market Authority.
Arcilla said the Market Authority has found merit on the vendors’ request, hoping that proposal would be approved by the council. —