In the Philippines, where many institutions are weak and given to accommodation, especially when political interests are involved, it is quite easy for noisy minorities to hold sway. This is so even if their causes seldom rise in relevance to the very noise they create. But there will always be those who are like them and it is the sorry and sad lot of governments and societies to have to deal with them.
Cebu City has had its own long history of having had to deal with trouble-makers and obstructionists who think the world owes them everything. But do not get me wrong. I never imagined life to be a walk in the park. There will always be conflicts and disagreements. It is when not being on the same page results in unjustified acts that compromise the general good.
For years, even decades, the Carbon market area has always been a mess. But it is not for lack of trying by successive governments to instill order and sanity there that it continues to remain largely that way. It is the mindset of those who resist any attempts at improvement for no other reason than it is inconvenient and disruptive. In other words, it is self-interest and not the general good that dominates.
The latest attempt to make Carbon worthy of Cebu City's status as a premier and world-class metropolis will be the new permanent Carbon market and new Freedom Park project. But to achieve that there has to be some clearing of present vendors and occupants. Let it be known and understood by all that these people are not being driven away but temporarily located.
The city's market authority asked the affected vendors to vacate their stalls at Freedom Park and the adjacent Warwick Barracks and move to an interim location in a building nearby. A deadline was set for yesterday, March 15, for them to move. Some did and some are preparing to. But a few refused to budge and began to protest noisily about rights as if they alone have that entitlement.
The temporary place of transfer is clean, concreted, and fit for the decent conduct of business. Efforts have been made to make the relocation site visible, accessible, and safe. But the noisy minority are standing pat, hiding behind the alibi of rights and empowerment when the real reason for their intransigence is their refusal to leave their abodes they built within the premises.
But there is no such thing as abodes in a marketplace. No government anywhere in the world allows the construction of private abodes in a public market. If at all, the Market Code of Cebu City prohibits that. Not even common sense takes kindly to such a distortion of public purpose. It is not just a presumption of regularity that the authorities are leaning on to make them move. It is regularity, period.
The protesting vendors must not be allowed to stand in the way of a long-awaited project that is meant for the good of all Cebuanos as well as visitors. The Carbon market is an iconic place of business. It richly deserves the facelift that the new market intends to give it. If everything goes according to the plan of the city government, we might soon be able to mention Carbon with real pride.
But first, the city must have to deal with oppositors to change, modernization, and progress. Its hand needs to be firm, its heart resolute. And while there is an equal need to be judicious and fair, it must have the wisdom to know it is not just being played by heart-tugging words seeking feigned sympathy. The guiding light of government must always be the people. By that is meant the majority.