SM market development hit
COUNCILOR Mylen Yaranon is opposing any plans to privatize the Baguio City Public Market.
“I stick to my decision: the Baguio City Public Market should never be given to a private corporation, it should be developed by the City Government both unsolicited proposals either by Robinsons Land Corporation ( RLC) or SM Prime Holdings (SM) are deficient which should both be rejected,” Yaranon sadi.
Last week, Mayor Benjamin Magalong signed Memorandum 433 series of 2020 awarding the Original Proponent Status ( OPS) Status to SM, disapproving the previous awarding to
(RLC).
Yaranon said both malls have failed to preserve the heritage area.
“Both did not consider the topography of the area, and have not considered nor prioritized the needs of the market vendors, the bagsakan area and the market goers. They are only interested in the return of their investment by prioritizing their own mall,” Yaranon said.
The decision was based on factors like completeness of documents, area to be developed, modality, project duration, financial viability, technical design, economic benefits and environmental consideration.
The lady councilor has always opted for government funded Baguio public market by either realigning unused funds or a loan from Development Bank of the Philippines.
Yaranon said a bond floatation can also finance the whole cost of the market.
“We can also bid out the management of the market. What is important is that the whole market will be a public market, no malls. And we should not forget that the development is in four phases,” added Yaranon .
Yaranon said the 1st phase is the wet section at the Hangar area. The existing stalls here may be relocated at the old Rabbit station. Once the wet section is done, they can be transferred at the finished phase 1 bldg. Phase 1 also includes installation of main sewer and storm drainage.
The councilor detailed phase 2 is the improvement of the old wet section to be converted into the dry goods section.
Phase 3 will be the improvement of the fruits and vegetable section. Vendors can temporarily transfer to the front old stone market / heritage area and Rabbit station while the structure is being built.
This phase also includes rehabilitation of the bagsakan area at Hilltop.
Phase 4 will now entail the rehabilitation of the old stone market and heritage area which will house the flower section and creative artists.
The 2nd floor will be elevated walkway for pedestrians from Malcolm, Center Mall and the Maharlika connecting to the 2nd floor of the market.
“Phase 4 also includes the main driveway for loading and unloading of PUVs and the entrance of private cars to the basement parking, quite complicated but very manageable,” Yaranon said.
On technical design, Magalong said SM provided substantial details although with some deficiencies, although these can be subject to negotiation, while the submitted technical designs of RLC are not professionally prepared and lack details for thorough evaluation.
The electronic mail from RLC received by the P4- SC secretariat stating they can only submit the Detailed Engineeing Design for the market once they are declared as the OPS, is a show of resistance to comply with the requirements of the
P4-SC.
On economic benefits, the mayor said SM provides more detailed estimates of economic benefits while RLC did not provide substantial data as basis for evaluation and most of the descriptive benefits are too generic.
For environmental consideration, SM provides building design featuring environmentally friendly facilities for the public market such as a water treatment facility with a tertiary plant, well designed Materials Recovery Facility to handle solid waste separating the biodegradable and non biodegradable wastes, a separate and controlled room for hazardous waste and a green sky garden.
Tongtongan ti Umili has also raised opposition on the decision of the mayor to award the OPS to SMPI saying the move to award the OPS to rehabilitate the Baguio City Public Market only goes to show that the good mayor is more keen on favoring the interests of big corporations rather than the citizens he is supposed to serve.