Bacolod urged to enforce night market ordinance

THE Bacolod City Council approved a resolution requesting the City Mayor’s Office to implement the night market ordinance in the city.

The resolution, authored by Councilor Simplicia Distrito, was approved during the City Council’s regular session on Wednesday.

Distrito said City Ordinance No. * 08-14-666 or the Night Market Ordinance of the City of Bacolod was crafted to provide policies in the establishment of night market in certain areas of the city and to allow the vendors to extend their operation for additional income.

She said the operation of night markets has been found to be a great tourist destination in some places locally and abroad.

“The implementation of this ordinance will be timely considering that this could be one of the solutions to provide an avenue to our displaced sidewalk vendors,” she added.

Distrito noted that the ordinance also created a Night Market Committee to supervise the operation of the night market and it could also decide on giving priority to sidewalk vendors who voluntarily dismantled their stalls.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier said the market committee will convene next week to discuss on how to enforce the Night Market Ordinance.

He said this is one of the options to accommodate some of the vendors who might be affected of the demolition.

He added the market committee will be led by City Administrator John Orola and Councilor Bartolome Orola, chairperson of the City Council committee on markets.

In 2014, the City Council approved an ordinance creating the policies and guidelines in the establishment and regulation of the night market in Bacolod CITY./MAP