Cebuanos continue to visit Carbon Market in Cebu City on Holy Wednesday, March 31, 2021. | CDN Digital File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – In protest of the ongoing modernization of Carbon Public Market, some vendors will be holding a two-day strike starting today, Monday (January 24).
The Movement Against Carbon Market Privatization announced in a statement that vendors will go on strike to protest against their eventual transfer to the Interim Structure in Unit II.
“Mag-strike kaming mga manindahay isip pagpakita nga kami hugot gihapon ang pagbatok ug pagbabag sa scheduled nga pagbalhin kanamo didto sa Interim Structure sa Unit II,” they said in a statement.
Member-vendors will go on strike from January 24 to January 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Movement Against Carbon Market Privatization slammed the Cebu City Government and Megawide Construction Corp. for allegedly forcing affected vendors to transfer.
They also claimed that the city’s Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (PROBE) team reportedly threatened some vendors that they will not be prioritized once modernization is complete.
“Klaro nga pagpanghaylo ug pagpangilad ang ilang pagpugos kanamo nga kami ibalhin didto sa temporaryong edipisyo gumikan kay mahulog nga kami ang kaugalingon ug boluntaryong muguba sa among stalls o tumong nila nga ihulagway nga kami uyon sa pagbalhin,” the group said.
Megawide, through its subsidiary Cebu2World (C2W), assured the public that vendors to be placed in the Interim Building will be provided with the facilities they need.
“The movement of vendors to the Interim Building is a win for the true owners of Carbon – the Cebuano public who have clamored for a safe, secure, and more efficient market especially as the COVID health crisis continues,” C2W said in a statement sent to CDN Digital.
“The new facility will address the concerns of the Cebuano public on cleanliness, security, and convenience, which are among the top reasons why so many of them stopped going to Carbon regularly and instead choose supermarkets despite our low prices,” they added.
Civil works are now ongoing for the modernization of Carbon Public Market, Cebu City’s largest public wet market that houses more than 8,000 vendors.
The city government has entered into an agreement with engineering giant Megawide to give the market a facelift.
Megawide has poured at least P5 billion for Phase 1 of the modernization project.
But not all vendors welcomed the prospect of a modernized Carbon and even called to junk the big-ticket project.
Recently, a trial court dismissed a petition for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the Cebu City government and Megawide Construction Corp for the modernization of the Carbon Market.
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