Talisay CH protects Lagtang market vs. competition from private market

CEBU, Philippines - Talisay City Hall yesterday clarified that the closure of some stalls in Nacario Trade Center (NTC) is not to disadvantage vendors and the buying public but to give justice to the Lagtang Public Market that is reportedly affected by the existence of NTC.

“The main purpose of the closure of the stalls is to give justice and help the vendors in Lagtang Public Market based on the court order,” read the text message sent by City Hall spokesperson Arturo Bas.

Bas said the move was to “ease traffic congestion in the Tabunok area,” where NTC is located, especially that it has no parking area.

Regional Trial Court branch 7 judge Estela Alma Singco last week issued an order of closure of all stalls at NTC which are engaged in the selling vegetables, fruits, rice and corn, canned goods, noodles, dried fish, eggs and other poultry products.

The order stemmed from the civil case filed by the Nacario couple, owners of NTC, asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction on the cease and desist order of NTC’s operation issued by Mayor Socrates Fernandez in November last year.

But while still holding in abeyance the mayor’s order pending the resolution of the case, the court, as earlier agreed by the parties, has allowed other stalls to continue their operation except for those with goods found in Lagtang market for the reason that these have become direct competitors to the products sold in the public market.

Bas’s comment came after opposition Councilor Danny Caballero had debunked the city government’s move to close the stalls in NTC, saying that it is affecting both the vendors there and the market-goers.

In an interview with The Freeman Tuesday, Caballero said the closure has “not only displaced small vendors, it has also deprived” the public from buying cheap goods.

Caballero said the move has displaced these vendors whose families rely on what little they get from selling at NTC. - THE FREEMAN