New Mandaue City public market ready for business

CEBU, Philippines - The new Mandaue City public market, which sits at the back of the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex at the North Reclamation Area, is finished but cannot be occupied yet until amendments to the provisions of the1998 public market code are approved by the city council.

Market vendors are expected to move to the new building by the first week of November.

A proposed ordinance is still on first reading and a public hearing for the new market rate will be conducted today at the Sports complex.

Musolini Soliva, the market administrator yesterday said some provisions of the city’s market code are obsolete and cannot be applied on the new public market.

One of the provisions that need to be amended is the rate of rentals of stalls as the old market code stipulates that stall rentals in the first and second floor of the old public market differ in the rate in the daily rental.

He said that this provision can no longer be applied on the new public market because all of its 1,408 stalls are all located on the ground floor.

Soliva said that of the more than 900 market vendors at the old public market, only 600 are qualified to transfer since these are the only vendors who, upon evaluation, as the ones who are prompt in the payment of their rentals in the old market.

Soliva said there were also some ambulant vendors who applied for stalls at the new market but they have to be evaluated first especially that the city will only allow vendors who are residents of the city to sell at the new market.

Although there were at first resistance to the transfer to the new public market, Soliva said they are now convinced of moving to the new market after the city engineer’s office declared that the old market is no longer safe for vendors due to the cracks and falling debris, which could be blamed on a fire that hit the building in 2002.

Soliva said when Cebu experienced an earthquake and a storm months ago, it was the vendors themselves who said the old market building was no longer safe for them. – (FREEMAN)