City warns Ermita vs vendors’ fees collection

The road along Sitio Bato, Barangay Ermita, was cleared of fish vendors, Monday dawn, after they reportedly refused to pay “voluntary contributions” to the village. Ermita officials, however, said the action was taken in response to a residents’ petition that called the area an “eyesore.” Officials said fish vendors’ stalls were demolished to ease the flow of traffic.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

CARBON PUBLIC MARKET

For close to 15 years, the densely populated village of Ermita in Cebu City has relied heavily on collections from vendors at the Carbon Public Market for the barangay’s operations since 2002.

Amounting to P10,000 to as much as P120,000 daily, the collections, described by Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta as just “voluntary contributions” from market sellers, are now the object of a brewing controversy in the city which has grown louder each day.

The noise created by the barangay’s P10 daily collection from at least a thousand sidewalk vendors at the back of Carbon Market’s Unit I drew more attention, Monday, when the village sent a Kaohsiung bus to block the area along Quezon Blvd.

An ABS-CBN report showed the bus parked in the vending area at dawn with men, purportedly village watchmen, confiscating tables and fish.
Barangay Ermita Chief Tanod Giovanni Calit said the vending area was being cleared to allow the free flow of traffic.

Vendor organization leader Joy Geonzon, however, noted that the barangay only began to view them as a “traffic obstruction” after her group stopped paying the P10 daily fees to the barangay upon the advice of Cebu City Markets Operations Division (MOD) head Winifredo Miro.

Miro, a former Ermita barangay councilman for 17 years until his term ended in 2013, had told the vendors to pay the fees directly to the city instead of the barangay.

Miro’s advice was echoed by deputy mayor on police matters Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, who warned Ermita barangay officials against the continued collection of the fees.

“Naa ba diay voluntary nga pugsanay?” said Tumulak, warning that such was illegal.

(How could it be voluntary when the vendors are being forced?)

Miro told Cebu Daily News that around 40 vendors visited his house in Ermita yesterday morning to report the earlier commotion.

Miro said he then encouraged the vendors to organize themselves and press charges against village officials.

Sought for comment, Barangay Captain Rupinta denied confiscating the vendors’ items.

“That is not true. That is a lie. That is a very big lie. The truth here is there was a petition coming from the residents. There was a complaint,” said Rupinta, explaining that 64 residents of Ermita had signed a petition asking for the demolition of fish vendors in the area because they were obstructing traffic and were an “eyesore.”

Rupinta claimed it was Miro who was confiscating a lot of goods in the market without returning them while making Rupinta look like he was the bad person.

Barangay ordinance

While Rupinta relies on Barangay Ordinance No. 01902 passed in 2001 which allowed the fees’ collection, Tumulak said the village ordinance has yet to be approved by the Cebu City Council.

“Of course they have a chance to collect under the local government code, but there must be a barangay ordinance. That ordinance will not be implemented without the approval of the City Council,” Tumulak said.

According to Tumulak, what the Cebu City Council approved way back in 2003 was a report from the Committee on Laws regarding Ermita’s ordinance; but this, he said, had not been reintroduced for the City Council’s final deliberation and consequent approval.

Barangay donations should also be deposited to a village trust fund and must be issued receipts for proper accounting, said Tumulak, noting that Ermita only issues “stamps” with no serial numbers to acknowledge the P10 “arkabala” or excise taxes paid by the vendors in Carbon.

“To avoid conflict, they have to stop (the collection) until this will be resolved. We don’t want to reach the point where we will file a case against them,” warned Tumulak in a talk with Rupinta yesterday.

Rupinta told CDN that halting collections was impossible as the village will have to adjust their budget first.

Rupinta insisted that the daily collections, which were used to pay the salaries of the village’s Economic Enterprise Department (EED), were just voluntary contributions from at least one thousand vendors out of around 4,000 vendors in Carbon.

“I want them to hear our side. The collection of contribution is not illegal. Mayor Tom himself signed the ordinance,” Rupinta said in a statement dismissed by Tumulak as untrue since Osmeña, Tumulak said, merely signed the law’s committee report.

Rupinta urged the mayor to look into the matter with fairness as Osmeña, he said, knew the truth.

“Mayor Tom encouraged us to make money in the barangay before. We followed the procedure. It is not illegal,” Rupinta said. /with Reporter Jose

Santino S. Bunachita