By: Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Sidewalk vendors at the downtown area of this city have until Aug 31, 2019 to voluntarily demolish their structures and transfer to the Bacolod Vendors’ Plaza.
Executive Assistant Ernesto Pineda on Wednesday said that this was the agreement during a dialog between the vendors and City Hall officials led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia at the Bacolod City Government Center lobby on Tuesday.
Pineda said vendors who already vacated their stalls and were validated by the City Administrator’s Office can already transfer to the Bacolod Vendors’ Plaza starting Wednesday.
The validation team is composed of market supervisors, representatives of the Sectoral Concerns Office, and the officers of the three vendors associations—LOUGAR, BGBA, and BACODBA.
In the dialog, Leonardia and other city officials tackled several matters concerning President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to rid the streets of illegal structures.
Leonardia said the President’s directive will pave the way for Bacolod to open “other growth areas” in the city.
“Bacolod is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Philippines today. We are expanding and soon we will have other growth areas,” Leonardia said.
He added that there are available properties in Barangays Alijis and Mansilingan that can become potential markets aimed to accommodate displaced vendors.
“We are doing our best to be able to find new markets for the vendors,” Leonardia stressed.
New routes covering Barangays Sum-ag, Punta Taytay, Tangub, Singcang-Airport, and Magsungay will be made so that the commuting public would find it easy to go to the Vendors’ Plaza.
Department of the Interior and Local Government-Bacolod director Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag commended Leonardia’s efforts in implementing Duterte’s directive, especially the series of consultations with the affected parties.
Other officials who attended the dialog were Councilors Cindy Rojas, Israel Salanga, and Al Victor Espino, City Administrator Atty. John Orola, City Legal Officer Atty. Joselito Bayatan, Administrative Officer and Concurrent Market Supervisor Atty. Allyn Luv Zamora-Dignadice, Executive Assistant Ernesto Pineda, Bacolod Traffic Authority Office head Lt. Col. Luisito Acebuche, and Lt. Col. Jose Badilla.
