ABC-Jaro makes money from road closure

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BY CAROLYN JANE ABELLO
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January 18, 2018
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ILOILO City – The Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) of Jaro has admitted it is making money from the kiosks being rented out to vendors on the partially closed Plaza Rizal Street in Jaro district.

The group, however, denied the closure was its idea. ABC-Jaro chief Leo Lindero said it was Mayor Jose Espinosa’s.

What they asked was to be allowed to put up kiosks inside Jaro Plaza – not outside it – similar to the practice in previous years, said Lindero.

Espinosa, however, came out with an executive order closing two of the four-lane Plaza Rizal Street and allowing the construction of temporary kiosks thereat from Jan. 8 to Feb. 8, said Lindero.

“Sin-o gid abi ako kag ang ABC-Jaro nga indi magpasugot sa gusto sang aton city mayor,” said Lindero.

The closure has resulted to traffic congestion.

ABC-Jaro rakes in P4,000 for every kiosk it rents out to vendors.

They planned to erect a total of 36 kiosks for a projected income of P144,000, said Lindero.

Espinosa authorized ABC-Jaro to manage the 2018 Jaro Agro-Industrial and Charity Fair.

According to Lindero, the money from the rentals would be used to subsidize Jaro fiesta activities like the fancy ball and parade, among others.

The Jaro fiesta is on Feb. 2.

Part of the income would also be used to help Jaro senior citizens and serve as “revolving fund” of ABC-Jaro, said Lindero.

For years, the city government allowed the transformation of Jaro Plaza into a flea market in the months leading to the fiesta, beginning October. It hosted ukay-ukay stalls, eateries and videoke bars, among others.

This year, there was no mention of ukay-ukay stalls, eateries and videoke bars in Espinosa’s executive order. ABC-Jaro can only introduce the following: retail kiosks, mobile store/carts, feria and rides, garden/landscaping show, agro-industrial exhibit. These should be located outside the plaza (except for the garden/landscaping show).

But questions are being raised on the legality of Espinosa’s road closure order. On Tuesday, no member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) supported the proposed ordinance that would have shored up his executive order.

Failing to get the backing of his colleagues, Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo was forced to withdraw his proposed ordinance “authorizing the temporary / partial closure of Jaro Plaza covering Rizal Street fronting the Jaro Cathedral and extending up to the corner of Lopez Jaena Street…”

“If the mayor believes his executive order has legal basis, what’s the need for passing an ordinance for the road closure,” said Councilor Plaridel Nava.

If anything, Peñaredondo’s proposed ordinance was an afterthought to further bolster the mayor’s insistence that his executive order was legal, he said.

Councilor Joshua Alim, on the other hand, cited Department Order (DO) No. 73, series of 2014 issued by the Department of Public Works and Highways on “prohibited uses within the right-of-way of national roads.”

The DO highlighted Section 23 of Presidential Decree 17 (Revised Philippine Highway Act) that declared it unlawful for any person to convert any part of a public highway, bridge, wharf or trail for his own private use or to obstruct the same in any manner.

The DO ordered the removal of “all obstructions and prohibited uses” along national roads and these included “all kinds of temporary and permanent structures such as buildings, shanties, houses, stores, shops, stalls, sheds, canopies, billboards, signages, advertisements, fences, walls, railings, basketball courts, barangay halls, garbage receptacles,” etc.

“The law is clear. It must be implemented,” according to Alim./PN
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