No more vendors allowed in Plaza Independencia

CEBU, Philippines - Ambulant vendors who used to sell inside the Plaza Independencia will be barred from displaying their wares there with the opening of the renovated park this coming May 8.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the plaza will be strictly off-limits to vendors in order to maintain cleanliness.

City Councilor Nida Cabrera, chairman of the Parks and Playground Commission, also said the opening and closing hours of the plaza will also be regulated to preserve the plants and save electricity.

Cabrera said the plaza will be open Monday to Friday from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. For weekends and holidays, it will be open until midnight.

Visiting foreign and local tourists as well as people who want to stroll in the plaza should observe cleanliness, Cabrera said. She said that Cebu City Ordinance 1361 will be strictly observed and there shall be no spitting, littering and urinating inside the plaza.

Smoking inside the plaza is also prohibited. 

Cabrera said that organizers of any activity, whether government or non-government organizations, should secure a permit from the Cebu City Parks and Playground Commission to use the area.

According to Cabrera, there will be more security personnel to be assigned to the plaza to make it sure that cleanliness is being observed.

The renovation cost was pegged at P16.9 million.

Formerly called Plaza Libertad, Plaza Independencia was renovated to afford visitors a view of the nearby Malacañang of the South and the Cebu harbor.

The plaza was the site of the old Gobierno Provincia (provincial government) and was dominated by the obelisk of Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. –(FREEMAN)