Hide-and-seek in Baclaran

It’s a hide-and-seek game that illegal sidewalk vendors, at least in Baclaran, Parañaque City, is clearly winning against the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

"It’s also tiring to be running and hiding from the MMDA, but this is part of earning a living," a vendor beside the Redemptorist Church told The STAR yesterday afternoon.

He sells prayer booklets, rosaries, and other religious items, all placed on a large bilao, and is just one of the estimated 5,000 sidewalk vendors that crowd the main thoroughfares in the area, which include Taft Avenue Extension, the service road along Roxas Boulevard and Quirino Avenue.

Another vendor doing business just across the church, said she has been selling in Baclaran for the last 15 years.

She would not get a legitimate stall, she said, because the rent costs as much as P350 a day.

On slow days, she said she earns some P300 selling handkerchiefs, slippers and bags. On good days, she said, she earns between P500 to P700.

The woman also alleged that the barangay and the local government collect P5 from them. "We’re given a ticket," she said.

But for what and how often this is done, she was not able to explain because as she was telling her story an MMDA enforcer was within sight. The woman and her companion quickly gathered their wares and dashed toward a nearby stall.

Looking tough and determined, more than a dozen MMDA personnel, along with a handful of members of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) and the Traffic Enforcement Division (TED), swept through Taft Avenue Extension, with an Isuzu Elf van and a dump truck tagging along at around 4:15 p.m. yesterday.

The MMDA would attempt to run after the vendors but also eventually let them go. They would gather whatever item was within their reach and stash them in the van and truck.

The STAR noticed that it took the vendors along Taft Avenue Extension less than 20 minutes after the MMDA had passed to go back to the streets, settle down, and once again occupy nearly half of the narrow road.

The clearing operation began at around 8 a.m. and the hide-and-seek had been played all day long.

MMDA’s Rosendo Reyes, a security aide, said they have filled up at least six dump trucks of the vendors’ goods.

Reyes said the confiscated items are already considered "garbage" and would be disposed of.

When asked by The STAR about the lack of a system in the clearing operations, Reyes admitted it was difficult to catch the vendors. "Basta kung ano na lang ang madakot namin," he said.

Reyes reiterated that the MMDA does not prohibit vendors from selling, as long as they do not occupy the sidewalks, impede traffic and become road obstructions.