National roads Colon, N. Bacalso, Osmeña Blvd. strictly no vending zones

SIDEWALK vendors will not be allowed to go back to three national roads in Cebu City—Colon St., Osmeña Blvd. and N. Bacalso Ave.—despite repeated appeals to the mayor.

This was clarified by Raquel Bohol-Arce, head of the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification and Enhancement (Probe), Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, a day after some 300 street vendors held a rally in front of City Hall.

“Mayor Edgardo Labella didn’t mention that vendors can go back to their old posts. The mayor only said that they can go back to their means of livelihood,” Arce said.

The three national roads are landmarks that should be kept orderly, she added.

The National Government had instructed city officials to clear the three national roads of any obstruction.

Arce said the vendors on the sidewalk made it inconvenient for the pedestrians to pass.

“They can’t sell on the sidewalks knowing that we have narrow sidewalks, and there are a lot of pedestrians who pass by. We haven’t even cleared out all the sidewalks yet,” she said.

Arce asked the people to be more understanding, especially since they are only doing their job and following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Market slots

To make sure the vendors do not lose their livelihood, Arce said that Market Administrator Jonil Matuguina was asked to open slots in the market to the affected sidewalk vendors so they can legally sell their goods.

The vendors who cannot be accommodated in the public markets will remain at the Tabo sa Banay at the downtown area.

During the vendors’ meeting with Arce on Wednesday morning, two leaders of the vendors’ group in Osmeña Blvd. wept and said their children had to stop going to school because their means of livelihood had been affected by the clearing operation.

“We would like to plead with the government to lend us a small space where we could sell our goods and a small amount of money that could finance our children’s education,” one of them said in Cebuano.

They lamented that selling in Tabo sa Banay is not profitable for them.

Arce said they are planning to meet the vendors again next week in order to clear the misunderstanding.

During their inspection of Cebu City’s sidewalks on Monday, Sept. 30, Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III saw that the sidewalks that used to be occupied by ambulant vendors were already free of obstruction.

Densing commended Labella for relocating the sidewalk vendors.

He said the challenge now is for the City Government to sustain the clearing operations. /