Look! No street vendors on this sidewalk. CDND PHOTO / Gerard Vincent Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) seemed to have a change of heart for its assessment of Cebu City’s road clearing operations after the 60-day deadline they have given the local government units (LGUs) to comply.
In a statement to local media on October 10, 2019, DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño, confirmed that Cebu City got a high rating on the validation inspection for the road clearing.
Read: BREAKING: 12 LGUs in Central Visayas fail DILG assessment
He even praised the city’s top executive for successfully clearing the city’s main thoroughfares and inner streets.
Read more: Displaced Cebu City vendors to receive P20K cash aid for high city gov’t ratings in clearing ops
However, in the official rating results released by DILG on the evening of October 11, 2019, Cebu City’s results was only “medium compliance.”
The head of DILG’s validation team for Cebu City, Jonah Pino, who is also officer-in-charge of the DILG Lapu-Lapu City, said that Cebu City might have incurred violations during their inspection as there were still some areas in the city where vendors were still present, huge tents were opened up along the street, and obstructions were still noticeable.
Read more: Cebu City incurs violations in DILG-7 road clearing assessment
Labella said he was dismayed over the ratings of DILG since the city worked hard on clearing the streets, but he said the DILG must have their reason.
“They may have had a change of heart, so we will just work harder on our road clearing operations,” said Labella in a phone interview with CDN Digital.
The mayor said there would be no stopping in the road clearing operations, but the city would also make sure that the displaced vendors would be relocated properly.
Racquel Arce, the head of Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, and Enhancement (PROBE) team, already said they would continue the road clearing operations and make sure that the streets that would be cleared would be sustained properly.
She said that Colon Street and Osmeña Boulevard had been declared a no-selling zone to ensure no vendors could go back in the area. /dbs