Police form a human barricade to prevent protesters from intervening in the Carbon market clearing operations on Monday, July 18. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — An official of the Archdiocese of Cebu condemned the “gross disrespect” of some employees of the Cebu City government and Megawide Corp. for disrupting a Mass that was held at the Carbon Public Market compound on Monday, July 18, in solidarity with vendors whose stalls were scheduled for demolition that day.
In a statement, Fr. Nazario Ace Vocales, the Vicar for Social Advocacies of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said that while they were celebrating Mass on Monday morning, some employees of the Cebu City government and Megawide Corporation intentionally played loud music to disrupt the solemnity of this observance.
“We denounce the gross disrespect of this religious activity and urge the City Government to take action against the personnel involved,” reads a portion of Vocales’ statement.
“It is not enough for them that they are implementing an insensitive and unreasonable directive in demolishing the stalls of our Carbon market vendors who have been burdened by the hardships of the pandemic and of the recent economic dislocations we are all experiencing. They take delight in the suffering of their fellow Cebuanos as they endure the pain and suffering of losing the humble stalls which is the source of the daily livelihood which they and their families rely on,” he added.
Vocales also expressed support to the cause of the vendors who are against the current terms of the Carbon Market privatization program.
“In the mad rush to “modernize” and “beautify” the Carbon Market, we have ignored and even suppressed the voices of those who are actually the most in need of being heard. The policies and directives that result in this kind of governance are “never with the poor and never of the poor,” he said quoting Pope Francis’ third encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, 169.
Around 80 vendors lost their stalls during the clearing operations conducted on Monday at the Freedom Park of the Carbon Public Market.
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