Talisay purging Tabunok of ambulant vendors

CEBU, Philippines - The Talisay City government yesterday warned ambulant vendors in barangay Tabunok of the imposition of fines and their goods seized if caught by a monitoring team.

The warning was issued after legitimate vendors at the newly opened public market in barangay Lagtang complained of low sales and blaming the presence of ambulant vendors in Tabunok, where the old market was located.

"We already recognized that problem. That is why a task force was created to rid the whole area of Tabunok from ambulant vendors. And yesterday (Tuesday), we confiscated several kilos of fish from ambulant vendors in Molave," said City Administrator Richel Bacaltos, referring to a corner under the Tabunok flyover.

Bacaltos however admitted it is like playing hide-and-seek game with the vendors, fleeing when the clearing team are coming.

He said the city will also impose a fine of P200 on an ambulant vendor for the first offense, and if that vendor is a stallholder at the Lagtang Public Market, his/her contract will be "revoked", he said.

He said there are reports which say some vendors who have stalls in Lagtang still sell in Tabunok.

The area, despite the closure of the Tabunok Public Market last Aug. 29, has remained active due to the presence of the Nacario private market and several other privately-owned stalls, and in the vicinity are where some meat and fish vendors.

Mylene Labalan, a meat vendor in Lagtang public market, blamed these competitors for her low sales.

She said her sales volume has dropped to more than 50 percent from what she used to earn in Tabunok and blamed the illegal vendors.

She also said the presence of satellite markets in some villages is another factor why some of the legitimate vendors in Lagtang have closed shop.

Labalan said the satellite market in barangay San Roque, which reportedly grew since the Tabunok Public Market was shutdown, is one of their competitors, especially that almost all products sold in Lagtang can also be bought there, and at the same price.

Although the city is running after illegal vendors in Tabunok, it has no plans to wipe out these small markets, and Bacaltos said these have existed even before the Lagtang market was opened to the public.

"These satellite markets have been there even before we started using the Lagtang market. If we will do something about it, we may only limit it to regulate its operation, and stop it from expanding," he said.

Bacaltos however assured there is no more satellite market to be allowed within the city from now on.

Meanwhile, he assured all vendors in Lagtang that it is still one month since the new market was opened, and that what the vendors are experiencing now is just part of the "adjustment period." - THE FREEMAN