Manila off limits to MMDA’s vendor drive

The city government of Manila has declared its territory off limits to the sidewalk clearing operations, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando said yesterday there is nothing the agency can do, stressing he will honor the decision of Manila City Mayor Lito Atienza.

In a radio interview the other day, Atienza made it clear that the MMDA should leave Manila alone in its campaign to clear the sidewalks of the metropolis.

The Manila mayor pointed out that while he supports the intentions of Fernando, the city has its own successful program that deals with vendors.

Instead of driving away sidewalk vendors, Atienza has allowed them to continue with their trade by designating certain areas as informal market places.

Fernando had earlier insisted that illegal vendors should not be tolerated and that all of the sidewalks in Metro Manila should be cleared.

Fernando has already sparked a lot of controversy with his campaign, from urban poor groups to politicians who have denounced his methods.

He admitted the MMDA has not been able to operate in Manila because of the position taken by Atienza.

Atienza personally expressed his reservations about the campaign of the MMDA during one of the Metro Manila Council meetings wherein Fernando asked the mayors for their reaction to his operations.

Fernando said it was only Atienza who expressed concern as he insisted that the city government be the one to take the lead in the clearing operations.

"This is why we have not been able to operate in Manila. There’s nothing I can do about this because this is what he wants," Fernando said.

Manila has one of the Metro Manila’s largest population of sidewalk vendors in the Divisoria and Binondo areas.

For his part, Atienza said the MMDA should consider the idea of making vending organized so that a win-win solution can be achieved.

"We are presenting our concrete experience under our organized vending programs and we hope that this could be considered," said Atienza, who noted that the program has been effective in Manila for three years now.

"Areas like Villalobos, Carriedo and Hidalgo street in Quiapo and Trece de Agosto Street in Paco, which used to be full of disorganized vendors have been transformed into models for organized vendors," the mayor pointed out.

Under the program, the vendors are provided with uniformly designed stalls.– Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mayen Jaymalin