The Prevention Restoration Orderly Beautification and Enhancement (Probe) team of the Cebu City Government is planning to sue for damages the netizen who accused some of their personnel of mistreating vendors during a clearing operation on Colon Street last Thursday.
Probe chief Raquel Arce told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview yesterday that they still need to consult the matter with the City Legal Office.
“The post was inaccurate and maligned the reputation of Probe and even to the Cebu City Government. I will refer my actions to the City Legal,” said Arce.
On April 19, Facebook user Cheng Sabellaga Gines posted photos of an overturned cart with trays of balut eggs and jugs of buko juice scattered on Colon Street.
In her caption, Gines claimed that Probe enforcers mistreated street vendors when they conducted a clearing operation in the area on the same date.
The post went viral with more than 35,000 reactions, mostly angry ones, and shared over 19,000 times.
A Probe investigation showed that there were over 10 stalls occupying one lane of the street at that time, which inconvenienced both motorists and pedestrians.
“I just caught in the act jod on how they talked with the vendors which is keep on nagging pina tulisok2 pa. Hays! Ang baligya intawn sayang kaayo mahalin paman tana na. Kamo pay manakop, makakwarta pamo kamo pay abusado kayg mga nilihokan! So my point rajod is dapat tarongon di kay ipaagig in’ana mga PINAMAY!” Gines stated.
But Arce debunked Gines’ claims saying they have no intentions to overturn the cart and throw the goods.
“It is not the intention of the our operatives to pour the vendor’s goods onto the street. Because they know it would only create more tension. Some vendors, what they do, is to intentionally pour their goods on the street so that they can escape with their cart. Without the goods on it, they can flee the scene quickly,” Arce said in Cebuano.
She added that one of the vendors confronted one of their personnel who was towing two carts. The struggle, according to Arce, made the latter to let go of the carts in which one overturned.
She said the owner of the cart, a Mr. Richard Abanyo, even went to their office to claim his items and corroborated the statements of their personnel holding the two carts.
Cebu Daily News tried to reach Gines through Facebook yesterday afternoon but our messages on her inbox were left unanswered.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he is saddened by the incident but warned street vendors that he will continue to implement the law prohibiting them from encroaching Colon Street.
“That’s very sad but you have to understand, these are repeat offenders. What I’m saying is luoy. But, don’t worry. They’ll be back tomorrow, then they’ll be back the day after. That’s what happens all the time. The policy has been the policy. If the store owners don’t complain, fine. I don’t care. But if they do, I have to move,” said Osmeña.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
