Baclaran cleared of vendors by December - SPD

MANILA, Philippines - Policemen, local government officials, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority have vowed that all ambulant vendors will be removed from the vicinity of Baclaran Church in Paranaque by December, an official from the Southern Police District (SPD) said yesterday.

The agreement was reached after it was revealed in a recent conference that the three sectors are all reportedly receiving money from the vendors, said Senior Superintendent Federico Castro Jr., SPD deputy district director for operations.

“They hurled the same accusation against one another. So, we decided to make everyone agree that no one will be spared in the clearing operations anymore,” Castro told The STAR.

The meeting was called to study how to address the problems of illegal vendors occupying the Baclaran area (the Roxas Boulevard service road, Redemptorist Road, and Quirino Avenue). It was also there that the Task Force Baclaran was activated. 

According to Castro, they have given themselves until December to “totally clear” the area. To achieve this, the three groups came up with at least nine solutions, including the division of labor: the police officers will arrest the vendors, while the MMDA will confiscate their wares and turn them over to the task force, which will be headed by Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran.