Vendors pay P1 M a day to occupy Taft Avenue?

MANILA, Philippines - At least 3,000 illegal vendors who now occupy most of the lanes along a one-kilometer segment of Taft Avenue in Pasay City allegedly pay around P1 million a day as “protection money,” sources said yesterday.

“A small stall owner pays P50 a day but those with big stalls pay as high as P300 a day,” a source familiar with the collection scheme said.

Other sources said traders new to Libertad market and its vicinity has to negotiate with the leaders of the group in charge of a certain area before they can start displaying their wares.

Despite payoffs, personnel from national and local government agencies often clear the area and most vendors use mobile stalls for quick escapes, they said.

The sources said the money collected from vendors is “remitted” every three months to still unknown recipients.

“The Taft Avenue area from EDSA to Baclaran has become a thriving source of money in exchange for the unhampered business activity in the area,” another source said.

No such racket

City government officials, however, said there is no such protection racket and insisted that the city government has been conducting regular clearing operations to rid Taft Avenue of illegal vendors.

Adrian Ferrer, an officer of the Mayor’s Total Clean Task (MTCT) group, said the vendors troop daily to the area from other places in Metro Manila.

“We conduct regular clearing operation but they keep on coming,” he said.

Ferrer said several MTCT teams have been deployed in the area to ward off vendors blocking vehicles passing through Taft Avenue.

He also clarified that the city government does not collect taxes or fees from the vendors who put up structures along Taft Avenue and have practically shut down the national road.

Ferrer added that the city government has no record on the numbers or identities of the vendors in the area.

Taft Avenue was identified by the Department of Public Works and Highways as part of a vital road network that could help ease traffic gridlocks near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Barangay 79 officials said the city government “awarded” space in the Libertad market to Maranaw traders and the vendors have totally shut down the avenue’s northbound lane over the years.