Partido Lakas Ng Masa candidates Bello, Espiritu back Carbon vendors, denounce WTE project

Partido Lakas ng Masa candidates Walden Bello and senatorial aspirant Atty. Luke Espiritu pledged to bring the plight of the Carbon Market vendors to the national level if elected this May.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Several national candidates vowed to bring local issues to the national scene like the modernization of the Carbon Public Market and the proposal to put up a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility if elected in the upcoming polls.

Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) vice presidential aspirant, Walden Bello, and senatorial aspirant Atty. Luke Espiritu pledged to support the Carbon vendors in their fight against the ‘privatization’ of the Carbon Market.

Bello and Espiritu, during a press conference on Tuesday, March 29, pledged to raise the concerns surrounding the modernization of Cebu’s biggest wet market and the proposal to have a WTE plant in the city to the national level.

Both labor-first leaders, Bello and Espiritu denounced the council’s decision to hastily approve these two, big-ticket projects without proper consultation of concerned stakeholders that will be affected.

“We have made deliberate efforts even before the election yung mga manggagawa kailangan nilang bitbitin, as part of the general political discourse, ang kanilang laban,” said Espiritu.

Bello reiterated the same idea, adding that having progressive leaders in the government would greatly benefit the working class and underprivileged.

“We also want to highlight your struggles here, na community struggles when they have close cooperation with the progressive people in the government and the community, they can succeed, these are the kinds of struggles that we want to highlight,” said Bello.

Also present during Tuesday’s press conference was Wine Miro, president of the Carbon’s Ambulant Vendors Association.

Miro blamed several councilors who approved the joint venture agreement (JVA) the city entered into with construction giant Megawide Construction Corp. for the ‘misery’ they’re currently experiencing.

“Mostly mu sign sila without reading so kinsay mu suffer? Sa napo lang ka konsehal nga naa sa siyudad karon nga namirma sa Joint Venture Agreement sa Carbon Public Market so milyon ang mga Cebuano nga apektado tungod kay ang Carbon is one of the most cheapest (na pamalitonon),” said Miro.

During the same press briefing, environmentalists also called to junk the plan to establish a Waste-To-Energy (WTE) facility in the city.

Not far from this, concern about another controversial JVA between the city and New Sky Energy Inc. (NSEI) for a WTE project in Cebu City has also emerged.

“The majority members of the Cebu City Council proceeded to approve the JVA of Megawide kahit hindi nabasa ng mga councilors… In the same manner, last March 9, 2022, the majority of council members proceeded to approve the JVA, a 40-year WTE contract with New Sky Energy Phil. without prior consultation and budget hearings,” said environmentalist Lito Vazquez.          /rcg

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