ROXAS City – The city government is temporarily holding off increasing the rental fees for stalls at the Teodoro Arcenas Trade Center (TATC).
Mayor Ronnie Dadivas granted the plea of the Grocery and Miscellaneous Association, Inc. (GROMISC) headed by Elias Cabarles.
March last year, the city council passed an ordinance increasing the stall rental fees at the public market, noting that there had been no such increase for the past 10 years thereby depriving the city government of needed revenues.
Citing the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, however, Dadivas said holding off the increase is reasonable.
The health crisis has adversely affected the finances of market vendors, he explained.
According to the GROMISC, members have yet to recover from the devastating economic effects of lockdowns caused by the pandemic.
Dadivas requested the Sangguniang Panlungsod through Councilor Paul Baticados (chairman of the Committee on Economic Enterprise) and Councilor Gary Potato (chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means) to pass an ordinance deferring the full implementation of the stall rental increase.
For agricultural products, dry goods and groceries located in the posterior area of the TATC, the rent is P8 per square meter.
It is P6 per square meter for businesses located in the interior areas.
For meat, poultry and fish section, the rent is pegged at P5 per square meter./PN
