The office of the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA) remains closed as the closure order takes effect on June 30. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
THE vendors belonging to the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA) said they will oppose the closure order issued by Cebu City Acting Mayor Margot Osmeña which takes effect on June 30.
One of the vendors, Arlene Hermosa, said three generations of her family has been selling Filipino delicacies right outside the Unit 2 building of Carbon public market.
She said her mother sold delicacies to customers 30 years ago and her daughter was a scholar under the city government’s scholarship program.
Hermosa said her family had survived this long and won’t give up without a fight.
“It will be bloody if it needs to be bloody,” she commented in Cebuano.
Hermosa recounted how she fought off police officers who tried to dismantle their stalls and confiscate their goods.
“We complied properly and paid our dues on the right time,” Hermosa said while fishing for the bundles of receipts she kept in her purse.
She said she carries the receipts with her all the time to prove that she was paying for her stay in the market.
Olivar Julita, owner of one of Carbon market’s biggest suppliers of Visayan delicacies, said she dismissed the reports of a closure order issued by Acting Mayor Osmeña.
Her longtime employee, Emmanuel Evalaroza, said he may look for another job if Julita’s stalls is closed. He said he has to support his bedridden stepmother and a younger brother who is relying on a dialysis machine to survive.
Cebu Daily News tried but was unable to contact CCUVA officer Maria Buangbog for their side on the order.
“We will give the vendors enough time and for Mayor-elect Tommy Osmeña to decide. He still has the final say on this,” Acting Mayor Osmeña said./UP Cebu Intern Morexette Marie Erram