Bolanteros get more selling spots as Iloilo expands market days

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The city government is considering expanding the proposed market day scheme to allow displaced bolanteros, or transient vendors, to sell their goods in additional public markets across the city.

In addition to the market day at the Iloilo Terminal Market every Tuesday, the city government is currently studying the same setup at the La Paz Public Market on Wednesdays and at the Jaro Public Market on Thursdays.

The city government is also exploring the possibility of holding market days in other public markets, including those in Arevalo and Mandurriao, to further expand selling opportunities for vendors.

The proposed expansion mirrors the “Huwebesan” tradition at the Jaro Big Market, where residents flock to the market every Thursday to buy fresh produce, fish, meat, and other local goods, a longstanding market tradition that the city government is seeking to replicate across other districts.

Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu said the proposal aims to give vendors from outside the city additional opportunities to sell their products, aside from the planned market day at the Terminal Market.

Under the proposal, designated market days may also be implemented in other major public markets in the city so that bolanteros can unload, display, and directly sell their produce.

Treñas-Chu said the initiative is being discussed with the Local Economic Enterprise Office and various vendors’ associations to determine the schedule and operational details.

“During Market Day, aside from unloading their products, bolanteros—even those from outside the city—will also be allowed to display and sell their goods so that more Ilonggos can access fresh, affordable, and locally produced products,” she said.

Earlier, LEEO head Maricel Mabaquiao said transient vendors are supposed to function mainly as wholesalers who deliver their produce to the market’s bagsakan, or drop-off area.

However, she noted that some of these vendors have been selling their goods directly at retail, which affects regular stallholders inside the Terminal Market.

The Iloilo Terminal Market, redeveloped by SM Prime Holdings Inc. under a public-private partnership with the city government, held its grand opening in October 2025 and is considered one of the city’s major public market modernization projects. The influx of transient vendors around the redeveloped facility has prompted the city to balance clearing operations with efforts to provide alternative selling spaces for displaced vendors.

Mabaquiao added that the LEEO will continue to implement a “zero tolerance” policy in clearing operations against unauthorized vendors around the Terminal Market.