Central Market sidewalk vendors up for transfer

“WE will give them due notice.”

This was the statement of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday after the City Council already repealed the City Ordinance (CO) NO. 183, Series of 1980 to transfer all the sidewalk vendors at the Central Public Market and Masamart in Bonifacio Street to the Bacolod Vendors Plaza.

“Since the ordinance was already approved so we will give them due notice because that was the result of the series of discussions regarding on the demolition of illegal structures,” Leonardia said.

He said that under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) directive, it stated that aside from conducting road clearing operations, local governments must enact or revisit ordinances related to road clearing and banning of illegal structures.

Last week, the City Council repealed the CO 183 or an Ordinance providing for the disposition of kiosks and stalls constructed around the Central Public Market, Bacolod City was proposed by Councilor Bartolome Orola Sr.

The repealed ordinance will be forwarded to the City Mayor’s Office for the approval of the mayor so that the city can start removing the vendors at the sidewalk of Central Public Markets and Masamart in Bonifacio Street.

About 380 sidewalk vendors at the downtown area were earlier transferred to the Vendors Plaza.

They are from the areas of Araneta Street, Gonzaga, Gatuslao, Luzuriaga, Bonifacio, and Ballesteros streets.

The demolition of illegal structures is in pursuant to Memorandum Circular 2019-121 of the DILG, directing local government officials to implement the clearing of roads.

The DILG memo stated that within 60 calendar days, significant results must be achieved, documented, and reported together with the efforts of the local government units to sustain the same./map