PROBE ‘abuse’: Vendors’ group seeks Council’s help

Members of the city’s PROBE team help clear this part of the road at Carbon Market in Barangay Ermita during a road clearing operation on Tuesday morning, February 19, 2020. |Raul Constantine Labrador

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Independent Vendors for Empowerment and Development (I-vend) is seeking the help of the Cebu City Council to investigate alleged abuses of the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, and Enhancement (PROBE) in the clearing operations conducted in the city.

I-vend, an association of 10 street vending groups in the city, said in a letter to Vice Mayor Michael Rama that they wished to speak in the Citizen’s Hour on issues surrounding the implementation of the street clearing operations mandated by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

They also expressed concern on a PROBE supervisor, who would allegedly bring a Swiss knife during operations causing fear among the street vendors during these operations.

They also complained about the confiscation of their items during the operations when Mayor Edgardo Labella already ordered the PROBE not to take items from cleared vendors.

The group fears that street vending is being “criminalized” by the PROBE team using the DILG memorandum as their grounds.

“Dili na namo maingon nga nagsubay sila sa proper regulatory procedures ang ilang gihimo maong amo kining gidangup sa inyoha. (We believe the PROBE team is not following the proper regulatory procedure that is why we sought for the help of the council),” said the vendors.

READ: Cebu City incurs violations in DILG-7 road clearing assessment

PROBE chief, Racquel Arce, told Cebu Daily News that she had investigated the complaints of the vendors and found that the supervisor they were referring to had only used the Swiss knife to cut through ropes to remove stalls.

She said that the supervisor in question had never used the knife to threaten any vendor or person during operations, and she assured that no PROBE team member would go beyond their mandated duties during the clearing operations.

If the vendors had issues on the conduct of the operations, Arce encouraged them to complain to her so that proper investigation or disciplinary action could be done to erring PROBE team members.

She also said upon confiscations, items could be redeemed at the PROBE office for first time violators. Total confiscation will only be done for frequent violators.

“We are only doing our job. I hope the vendors would understand that,” she said.

The council has scheduled a citizen’s hour for the vendors and the PROBE on April 29, 2020 to discuss the issues surrounding the street clearing operations. /dbs