Original bolanteros to get permanent selling space in Iloilo City

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo City government will give priority to ambulant vendors, locally known as bolanteros, who were already selling in its public markets before the facilities were redeveloped, as it moves to establish a permanent selling area for them.

The plan comes amid concerns from stall vendors over declining sales during the scheduled market days.

Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu said Wednesday, Aug. 5, that the city has yet to identify a permanent site.

She said the city government is committed to ensuring that the original bolanteros will have a designated area where they can continue their livelihood.

“The one thing we can promise is that we will find a place for the original bolanteros so they will have a permanent venue where they can sell,” Treñas-Chu said.

She clarified that the proposed site is separate from the Iloilo provincial government’s planned food terminal, which is intended to serve as a trading hub for agricultural products from local farmers.

Treñas-Chu said the Local Economic Enterprise Office maintains a list of ambulant vendors who were already operating in the city’s public markets before the rehabilitation of the Iloilo Central Market and the Iloilo Terminal Market began.

She said the city government has observed that the number of ambulant vendors has increased since the two markets were redeveloped.

“For the new ones, we have to consider how we can cater to them because they are just entering and entering. … We have to respect the rules of the market,” she said.

Treñas-Chu said the city government must strike a balance between supporting ambulant vendors and protecting the interests of stallholders who lease spaces inside public markets.

She noted that Iloilo City’s policies are already more flexible than those of many other local government units, where ambulant vendors must secure permits before they are allowed to sell outside public markets.

Treñas-Chu added that bolanteros traditionally do not operate on a fixed schedule.

“Bolantero means not all the time. Originally they sell twice a week. Sometimes only at a time when they feel like selling. They have no fixed schedule. So we have to respect the vendors inside,” she said.

She said this differs from the arrangement for regular stallholders, because vendors leasing market stalls have a daily commitment to operate and maintain their leased spaces.

Meanwhile, Treñas-Chu said the city government is reviewing a manifesto submitted in July by the Federation of Iloilo City Public Markets, which urged the city to prioritize the welfare of regular market vendors.

The federation argued that allowing ambulant vendors to join scheduled market days has reduced the sales of stallholders inside public markets.

“We are reviewing the best option so we can help the bolanteros while coming up with a win-win solution for everyone,” she said.

The city government has been reviewing market policies since the reopening of the redeveloped Iloilo Central Market and Iloilo Terminal Market, which were modernized through a public-private partnership with SM Prime Holdings Inc.

Treñas-Chu also confirmed that SM Prime formally turned over the two redeveloped markets to the city government on July 22 under the partnership agreement.

The turnover followed her disclosure on July 13 that the delayed handover had prevented the city government from immediately addressing minor defects in the newly redeveloped facilities.

With the turnover completed, Treñas-Chu said the city government can now carry out minor rehabilitation work to address recurring flooding, leaking pipes, clogged drainage lines, and water ponding reported after the markets reopened.

The two markets reopened on Oct. 30, 2025, after a redevelopment worth about PHP 3 billion under a 25-year lease agreement signed with SM Prime in 2022.

The project expanded vendor capacity from 911 to 1,160 stalls, but hundreds of ambulant vendors displaced from the market premises later staged protests at Plaza Libertad.

The city government has since enforced a 100-meter no-vending zone around the Iloilo Terminal Market and designated market days and time slots that allow ambulant vendors to sell in public markets.