The Cebu City government will implement a stricter policy for vendors planning to sell their products during next year’s Sinulog festivities. To avoid the confiscation of their goods or being arrested, they must register at city hall’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) starting next week.
DWUP is the agency tasked to issue identification cards to vendors and also assign areas for them.
Vendors from Cebu City will be prioritized in the registration after it was observed in the last Sinulog that city residents were “overshadowed” by vendors from out of town.
At least 1,000 local vendors are expected in the city streets during the Sinulog celebration.
“We are totally regulating our vendors,” said DWUP head Genevieve Alcoseba, explaining that the city’s demotion team, PROBE, along with barangay tanods, policemen and volunteer groups, will help monitor vendors.
Alcoseba said that those without the necessary IDs will be arrested, while Kaohsiung buses will be on standby to haul confiscated goods from unregistered vendors.