‘SHOW US THE MONEY’: Vendors ask City Hall to hasten release of promised cash aid

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

THE 60-day ultimatum for the road clearing operations of local government units (LGUs) officially ended on Sept 29, 2019 but until now displaced sidewalk vendors in Iloilo City have yet to receive the cash assistance initially promised by the city government.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Jimmy Dorado, president of the Sidewalk Vendors Association of Iloilo City, confirmed that they have not received the P5,000 aid promised by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas to the 1,500 displaced sidewalk vendors.

“Nagpasa na kami sang mga names sa City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) sang Sept 16 pa pero ginadali-an pa nila evaluate,” he said.

According to Dorado, they only passed the names of some 916 sidewalk vendors for evaluation to the CSWDO because other vendors refused to sign up.

“Ginapang-house to house pa nila, interview and ginasubject for verification. Hambal nila sa amon mahatag nila ang cash assistance pagkatapos sang ila evaluation,” he said.

Mayor Jerry Treñas gave the vendors a total of 12 days to vacate the city sidewalks as part of their road clearing operations ordered by the national government.

Since Sept 16, the vendors were temporarily relocated at the property of Panay Electric Company (PECO) in JM Basa Street in City Proper.

Treñas promised each of the 1,500 vendors P5,000 aid through the CSWDO on top of the livelihood programs to be offered by the city government, specifically for the sidewalk vendors.

The city government also said that a public private partnership effort will be initiated for the long-term development of the sidewalk vendors.

Now, Dorado could only appeal for the city government to hasten the release of cash assistance to displaced sidewalk vendors.

“Tani mapadasig nila ang assistance kay subong sa amon nga ginsayluhan tam-an gid ka pigado kay bag-o pa lang kami kasaylo, daw ang cash assistance lang tani ang ginasaligan sang iban, bag-o lang kami nagsaylo,” he lamented.

 

VALIDATION

The deadline for road clearing operations order for LGUs officially ended on Sept 29.

Since Monday, the validation team already started validating the reports of the local government on their road clearing accomplishments.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 6 Regional Director Ariel Iglesia said that road clearing is just part of the parameters set by the department to evaluate the performances and accomplishment of the LGUs.

Part of the assessment would be inventory on the local laws and ordinances of the local government as far as clearing is concerned including the measures of the LGUs on the affected individuals or displaced sidewalk vendors, according to Iglesia.

“May mga parameters based sa dinevelop namin na tool. Titingnan namin kung may inventory ng mga local laws and ordinances as far as clearing is concerned, meron ba silang inventory ng mga roads and roads na dapat i-clear and ilan na ang dapat i-clear out of those sa inventory roads, at saka na-address ba ng LGUs ang mga affected individuals say for example sidewalk vendors, how do they address the displacement issues of the sidewalk vendors,” he explained.

Iglesia said they aim to finish the validation report within the week as the deadline for the validation is on Oct 5.

“After validation, we will be submitting the reports to the central office, pag-aralan nila yun and after assessment that would be the basis for the next move of the department, that is either we will recommend show cause order for the non-complying LGUs, recommendation from the office of the President, or administrative sanctions,” he added.

Meanwhile, Treñas said he is confident that Iloilo City will pass the validation of the DILG with a projected accomplishment report of 95 to 100 percent.

“Ang akon tan-aw 95 percent to 100 percent. Ang akon order sa task force indi ta ni pagbungkagon kay sige-sigehon ta lang ni kay it has done so much good for the city especially for the public nga nagalakat-lakat sa Calle Real,” he noted.

The mayor said he will entrust the uncooperative barangay officials to DILG.