BACOLOD City – In the spirit of Christmas, authorities here gave sidewalk vendors leeway in plying their trade in the downtown area under several conditions.
Colonel Henry Biñas, the city’s top cop, said these small traders should still abide the law as police cannot just always tolerate them.
“It’s part of our job. Our role is to sustain or continue the clearing of the sidewalks. (But) in the spirit of Christmas, we’ll be lenient for now. After Christmas, they should expect us to strictly implement it,” said Biñas, who was scheduled to meet with the City Legal Office personnel on Friday to discuss concerns related to the sidewalk vendors.
He said the police will call out the vendors if they occupy the sidewalks, and tell them to move to the public plaza, where they are allowed to sell goods for now.
“(Those violating), we will see if we can let them be and forego confiscating their items, considering it’s Christmas.
But if they will continue to violate the law, we will be forced to confiscate,” Biñas said.
Concerned police stations, he said, are assigned to monitor the presence of violators with the assistance of traffic and mobile units.
Earlier, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the police are tasked to ensure that the sidewalks remain free of obstructions posed by vendors, but they could be given consideration by the authorities because of the Christmas holidays. “I hope the vendors will not abuse it,” he said.
In the past weeks, it has been observed that a number of sidewalk vendors have started to return to the downtown area after the clearing operations ended in the last week of September.
Although after they have been warned earlier this month, their presence has become scarce in the area this week.
Some 400 vendors have been displaced in the downtown area, including the Central Public Market, during the 60-day clearing operations ordered by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
They have been transferred to the Vendors’ Plaza at the Reclamation Area, but this Christmas season, they have been allowed to sell at the Public Plaza as part of the “Paskwa sa Plaza” event from December 3 to January 6.
As of December 16, at least 135 vendors have processed permits to sell their goods at the plaza area.
In his executive order dated December 3, Leonardia stated that “in balancing the mandate of the DILG in its Memorandum Circular 2019-193 and the purposes mentioned in the proceeding paragraphs, a “Paskwa sa Plaza” shall temporarily be established in the Bacolod plaza and its surrounding parking areas for the duration.
“We recognized the need for a common place where people or their families can get together and enjoy themselves during the Christmas season as well as to provide opportunities for the less-privileged vendors to display local products or sell their wares, at the same time providing convenience to the general consuming public,” Leonardia added. (With a report from PNA/PN)
