Majority of night market vendors may lose stalls

Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez

Cebu City gov’t takes over management of night market; new policies implemented

At least two-thirds of the estimated 100 to 200 vendors at the Cebu City night market, who are not Cebu City constituents, may only have a week more to sell their wares there.

This developed after the Cebu City government took over the management of the downtown night market in P. Lopez and Legaspi Streets starting yesterday, Wednesday (December 12).

The night market started operations last week.

Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez, executive assistant of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena, said that the night market would be exclusive only to Cebu City residents or voters.

Fernandez said that to make sure that the vendors there would be city constituents, they would require them to apply for identification cards (IDs) from the city government.

He said that the IDs would serve as proof that they had underwent the proper screening procedures to determine if they were indeed residents and voters of Cebu City.

“We have to prioritize our constituents of Cebu City. That’s what the mayor wants. Our initial survey showed that two-thirds of the 100 to 200 vendors in the night market are not from Cebu City,” Fernandez said.

He also said that these policies were formulated as means to stop abusive private groups and individuals, who reportedly demanded outrageous fees, from P180 to P360, from vendors.

“Dili allowed ang mga tawo muhatag ug kwarta sa bisag kinsa. Adto na sila mubayad sa Cebu City government through the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) kay sila nay mangolekta,” said Fernandez.

(The vendors are not allowed to pay the fees to anyone. They will have to pay to the city government through the City Treasurer’s Office who will be collecting them.)

“Naa man guy reports nga sa una, mangwartahay ning mga private organizers sa night market vendors. Dili ganahan si mayor ana. Nagbayad ang mga organizers sad sa city pero gamay ra compared sa ilang makolekta gikan sa mga vendors,” he added.

(There were reports that private organizers are profiteering from the vendors of the night market. The mayor does not approve of that. The organizers are paying the city but it’s lesser compared to their collection from the vendors.)

Vendors, who will be qualified to sell in the downtown night market are asked to pay P50 per night as arkabala or tax for the city’s market. Utilities such as electricity, and implementation security measures will be shouldered by the city government.

“We will be issuing them a receipt everytime they pay their arkabala,” said Fernandez.

The night market was previously managed by private individuals who were permitted by the city government to use several streets in downtown Cebu City in line with the holiday and Sinulog season.