Threats linked to veggie trade

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Mayor Edna Tabanda on Tuesday informed traders that she had received death threats after issuing notices evicting them from the La Trinidad vegetable trading post and relocating them to the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC) built by the Department of Agriculture.

Tabanda revealed the threats in a dialog with protesting vegetable traders and dealers, who suspended trading on Feb. 29 to dramatize their opposition to their transfer to the BAPTC.

A local court had issued a status quo order allowing the farmers and traders to continue transacting business at the trading post.

Chief Insp. Radino Belly, the town police chief, said he was investigating a report from an informant who claimed to have overheard protesters discussing the threat against the mayor.

Augusta Balanoy, manager of the Benguet Farmers Marketing Cooperative which joined the Feb. 29 protest, said the threat could be because of frustration. “But it was just an empty threat,” she said.

On Tuesday, Tabanda spoke to a group of traders who expressed fear that their permits to sell would be put on hold.

Neli Joy Vigilie, who trades what she grows at the family garden, said they have not transferred to the BAPTC because there is no area assigned for them there. Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon