PUBLIC market vendors in Iloilo City’s La Paz district plan for a new cooperative in order to address issues on maintenance and collection of fees by the city government.
According to Lapaz Public Market’s Vendors Association president Charlie Chan, the new cooperative is still in its planning stage, but it has promising prospects.
“Kami sa Lapaz Market, ga–plano kami nga ma-run sang cooperative, which will be handled by the association of the vendors, para ang coop ang ma-control sang market; para padakuon ang market, kaysa i-privatize,” Chan said.
He also compared this plan to markets in Thailand, many of which are run by cooperatives. When fully implemented, the new cooperative will be able to offer numerous benefits to both vendors and buyers.
“Ang city government, ang obrahon nalang gid sang ila collector atubangon nalang nila ang coop. Ang coop na lang ang sukton nila. Wala na problema sa pagbayad sang delinquency,” Chan said.
“Ma-develop ang market, ma–gamay ang maintenance kay indi na siya mag pa–obra iban nga expenses. Ang coop lang ang ma-handle.” he said.
Despite all these benefits, Chan admitted that everything is still in the planning stage or what he called the “trailblazing part” of the process. He said, the biggest hurdle is gathering enough members from among the La Paz vendors to form a council for the association.
Additionally, he is also currently looking for a new business concept for the cooperative as well as investors who are willing to devote their time and capital for the project./PN