Will the crowd-drawing Colon night market make a comeback this year?
The night market at Colon Street, as shown in this Dec. 29, 2010, file photo.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Christmas night market may be coming back to Colon Street this year.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said that in a new directive he will be releasing within the week, he has included guidelines for the night market.
The guidelines will set the parameters for the schedule, location, set-up, health protocols, and others for the annual night bazaar.
Last year, the night market could not be put up because of the ongoing pandemic, but with ramped-up vaccinations this year, the night market is likely coming back.
In particular, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has no objections over the return of the night market.
“Actually it’s a lot better and safer compared to the malls. It’s open-air, we just need to put the stalls not close to each other, managed the observance of the health protocols from the organizer themselves and monitored by EOC task force.”
“Just have to deal first with the Cebu City Transportation Office on traffic and rerouting. Strict observance of curfew and store staff must all be fully vaccinated,” said Councilor Joel Garganera, the deputy chief implementor of the EOC.
Mayor Rama said that he is yet to receive the contingency plan from the vendor groups regarding the night market, which is why the directives are not yet out.
However, generally, the regulations include that only vaccinated vendors can sell at the night market and that they implement the health protocols strictly.
“But they cannot have their cake and eat it, too. I do not want to open the night market nya paghuman, siradohan,” Rama said.
The mayor said he will make his decision in the coming days when he sees the contingency plans.
As of now, he is inclined to open the night market since he understands the struggle of the vendors during the pandemic. /rcg
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