BACOLOD City – After two years, the Bagô Public Market in Barangay Maquiling, Sagay City, Negros Occidental was inaugurated on Wednesday, December 18.
The inauguration is vital as it is a cultural and economic center in the area where vendors of all sorts converge in the market to sell and exchange goods, said Mayor Narciso Javelosa, Jr.
From a hayob-hayob or makeshift market stalls setup, the rehabilitation of the 80-year-old public market began in August 2022. The city government invested P62.5 million for the improvement of the market poised to be one of the biggest public markets in the city.
The allocation for the repair was sourced out from the P60.6-million loan of the city government and the local fund.
The public market now features a 7,400-square meter of concretized area with wastewater treatment facility, drainage system, perimeter fence, and materials recovery facility.
It is divided into various sections which include 19 restaurant stalls, 16 fruit stalls, 14 sari-sari stores, 30 ready-to-wear (RTW) stalls, eight meat counters, 40 fish counters, and 72 dry goods areas or bagsakan.
Punong barangay Miraluna Diotay of Maquiling said the market has been there since the 1950s and has been a place for the people living in the upland areas of Sagay to market and barter goods.
“During those times, the people from the mountains would go down here, bringing their farm products to barter with fish, shrimp paste, dried fish, and other sorts of products found in the lowland area”, Diotay said.
As the years go by, she said the market has thrived with vendors creating their own makeshift stalls especially every Friday and Saturday which is considered as market days.
Vendors from Escalante, Toboso, and Cadiz City also sold their goods at the area, making it a vital economic and cultural center in the southern part of Sagay.
Bagô Public Market is now under the management of the city’s Environment and Economic Management Office. A public hearing will be conducted to discuss the new stall rates./PN
