DAKILA Iloilo stages market-day action for bolanteros

ILOILO CITY — DAKILA Iloilo will stage a creative public action at the Iloilo Central Market on Sept. 5 to draw attention to the livelihood, dignity, and everyday struggles of ambulant vendors, locally known as bolanteros.

“Adlaw sang Tienda (Market Day)” will run from 5 to 6 p.m. and feature a street theater presentation by Teatro Tayo, the student theater organization of West Visayas State University (WVSU), according to a Sept. 1 media advisory from DAKILA Iloilo Collective for Modern Heroism.

The activity puts a human face on an ongoing public-policy question in Iloilo City: how authorities can manage streets and market spaces while protecting public order without undermining the livelihoods and welfare of people who depend on informal vending.

DAKILA Iloilo said the performance is intended to help the public look beyond the common treatment of ambulant vending as primarily an issue of regulation or public order.

Instead, the group wants the discussion to include the people behind the livelihood, their contributions to the local economy and community, and the circumstances that keep them dependent on public spaces.

The organization said the action will raise questions about livelihood, dignity, social inclusion, and how public spaces can be managed while remaining responsive to the people who rely on them.

The issue has become increasingly visible in Iloilo City following the redevelopment of its public markets and changes in rules affecting ambulant vendors.

Daily Guardian reported in August that the city government was providing a permanent selling area for bolanteros who had operated in public markets before redevelopment, while also seeking to protect regular stallholders who said their sales were affected by competition from ambulant sellers.

The redeveloped Iloilo Central Market and Iloilo Terminal Market reopened in late 2025 after a project worth about PHP 3 billion under a 25-year lease agreement with SM Prime Holdings Inc.

The redevelopment increased vendor capacity from 911 to 1,160 stalls, but hundreds of ambulant vendors displaced from the market premises later protested at Plaza Libertad, according to earlier Daily Guardian reporting.

The city has also enforced a 100-meter no-vending zone around the Iloilo Terminal Market and adopted various arrangements intended to balance the interests of bolanteros and regular stallholders.

DAKILA Iloilo said “Adlaw sang Tienda” seeks to recognize ambulant vendors as part of the city’s social and economic life rather than viewing them solely through the lens of enforcement.

The group said the performance is also intended to encourage a more humane understanding of their circumstances and reflection on how the city can regulate public spaces while considering vendors’ livelihood, welfare, and dignity.

DAKILA Iloilo also linked the activity to the observance of National Heroes Day, framing the daily work of bolanteros as a form of modern-day heroism.

National Heroes Day was observed on Aug. 31 this year, the last Monday of August, under Proclamation No. 1006, which lists the occasion as a regular holiday.

For DAKILA Iloilo, heroism should not be confined to historical figures memorialized in textbooks and monuments.

The organization said heroism can also be found among ordinary people who continue working despite hardship and uncertainty to support their families and contribute to their communities.

In that context, DAKILA Iloilo described bolanteros as modern-day heroes whose persistence, sacrifice, and determination often go unrecognized.

The organization said the Sept. 5 activity is meant to connect remembrance of historical heroes with the realities of people struggling to make a living and serve their communities today.

“Sa sini nga Adlaw sang mga Bayani, aton man kilalahon ang mga bayani nga ara sa aton tunga, ang mga bolanteros nga adlaw-adlaw nagapangabudlay para sa ila pamilya kag komunidad,” DAKILA Iloilo said.