Vendors relocate to temporary stalls as market redevelopment begins

By John Noel E. Herrera

Vendors at the Iloilo Central Market have relocated to their assigned temporary stalls as the city government gave them until Tuesday, May 16, 2023 to give way to the market’s redevelopment.

“We are gradually transferring our vendors to our temporary stalls as we prepare for the board-up, dismantling, and demolition on May 16. Our goal is to provide a more modernized, cleaner and convenient market facility for our people,” Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said on his Facebook page.

Data from the City Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) indicated that around 1,200 vendors in the central market must be relocated.

The vendors are also free to modify their temporary stalls for their own identity and to become more appealing to the consumers.

The rate of rental for the stalls will still be the same as what the vendors paid inside Central Market, according to LEEO chief Marciel Mabaquiao.

Mabaquiao added that the rental rate in the market varies depending on the area occupied by the stalls, citing that vendors in the grocery section pay around P620, while “carinderias” and other food stalls are charged around P2,900.

She explained that the construction of temporary stalls was funded by SM Prime Holdings as part of the public-private partnership (PPP), but the payment collected from the rentals will still go to the city government.

Meanwhile, Treñas stressed that Rex Donasco and other vendors in the Central Market, who filed a case against the market redevelopment, will also be given temporary stalls upon their request.

The around 1,600 vendors at the Iloilo Terminal Market (Super), on the other hand, are given one month, or until May 31, to transfer to the temporary stalls.

Iloilo Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu also said that motorists may experience moderate to heavy traffic within the area where temporary stalls are placed.

Conlu noted that heavy traffic might be mostly experienced along Rizal Street going to Maria Clara, and around De Leon Street, but they will deploy a Road Clearing Team to make sure that there will be no obstruction in the areas.

Treñas previously said that the Iloilo Central Market and Iloilo Terminal Market will be considered as the first green markets in the Visayas once the redevelopment is completed, as solar panels, natural light and ventilation, and wastewater treatment plants will be established in the two establishments.