Baclaran church rector wants vendors relocated

The rector of the National Shrine of our Mother of Perpetual Help, better known as the Baclaran or Redemptorist church, is asking the Parañaque City government to come up with a “centralized planning and vision” for the area and to relocate the vendors clogging up the road leading to the church.

Fr. Victorino Cueto made the appeal after observing and receiving complaints from devotees about the worsening traffic conditions in the area.

“In the past, it only took the devotees who were coming from the LRT (Light Rail Transit) station 15 minutes to reach Baclaran church. But now it takes them 30 minutes to an hour just to reach the church” because the vendors are blocking the Redemptorist Road, he said.

Every first Wednesday of the month, the number of devotees visiting the church would reach 200,000. On ordinary Wednesdays,about 100,000 people would visit the church.

Cueto said the lack of a traffic system and security concerns stand in the way of making the Redemptorist church an international pilgrimage site.

He said the archbishop of San Diego, California visited the church last September to determine if it can be considered as an international pilgrimage site.

There were also students from Austria who wanted to do a study on the Baclaran church.

“This could be a big opportunity. If there is a medical tourism, why not a religious tourism?” Cueto said.

He suggested that the vendors be relocated to the reclaimed area on Roxas Boulevard.

No fair, please

In the past, stalls lined both sides of the Redemptorist Road, but last Nov. 4 many were surprised to see stalls being erected in the middle of the street, obstructing the passage of pedestrians.

The local government reportedly recently passed an ordinance for an agro-industrial fair, which was supposed to start last Oct. 1 and end on Jan. 6 next year. But when Cueto checked the goods for sale, he saw only clothes and toys and no agricultural products. 

 “I am hoping that the authorities would give consideration to the devotees because they helped make Baclaran what it is today. If there were no Church and no devotees, there would only be a few people who would be going to Baclaran,” he said.

Cueto also denied speculations that church officials gave their blessing for the vendors to set up their stalls in exchange for P1 million.

“We were not even consulted. We just woke up one morning and saw that there was an agri-industrial fair. While there might have been no need to consult us, they should have at least informed us, informed those who would be affected. But there was no advice from the local government,” Cueto said.

The priest also took offense at criticisms that church officials were insensitive to the poor because they were complaining about the traffic caused by the vendors. He said those issuing permits to the vendors should explain themselves.

If these collectors receive an average of P10,000 per square meter, then at 100 square meters of available space, the money would reach about P1 million, he said.

“How are they spending this money? Are they using it to benefit the poor?” Cueto said.

Last Nov. 4, he went to Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando’s office since Redemptorist Road is a national road. Fernando immediately called Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr., who reportedly said “he would see what he can do.”

The next day, the stalls in the middle of the street were removed. But the street was only clear for about five hours because the vendors returned to sell their wares.

Redemptorist Road cleared

Yesterday morning, the MMDA dismantled the stalls of 500 illegal sidewalk vendors along Redemptorist Road.

Director Roberto Esquivel, head of the MMDA’s Sidewalk Clearing and Operations Group, said these vendors have repeatedly obstructed the sidewalk and even a portion of the street thus, contributing to the heavy traffic build-up and disorder in the area.

“It is okay to do business but they should keep in mind to stay only in areas where they are allowed,” Esquivel said.  

He said they did not confiscate the vendors’ wares yesterday, but warned that if the MMDA finds that vendors are “ignoring the policy on street vending, that is the time we will be taking even the wares they are selling.”

Esquivel said they asked the city government to revoke the permits issued the vendors before they conducted the demolition.

Nelson Lacambra, Bernabe’s spokesperson, said “majority of these vendors are very stubborn and more are surfacing as they see it is a good time to do business since Christmas is fast approaching. However, this does not give them the license to ignore the rules and regulations being implemented by the MMDA.”

The MMDA also cleaned drainage inlets that were clogged with garbage left by the vendors. – With Rhodina Villanueva