ILOILO City – The city government has brokered a compromise between regular and ambulant vendors, ordering the bolanteros back to the Iloilo Terminal Public Market (popularly called “Super”) this August while restricting them from selling during scheduled market days elsewhere in the city.
The new arrangement seeks to address complaints from regular market vendors that competition from ambulant sellers during market days has hurt their income, while allowing the bolanteros to continue earning a livelihood.
Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) head Maricel Mabaquiao said ambulant vendors will be assigned to the third floor of the Iloilo Terminal Public Market, and allowed to operate from 7 p.m. until 4 a.m. the following day.
Under the new rules, however, ambulant vendors based at “Super” will no longer be allowed to move to other public markets during their respective scheduled market days.
Only existing ambulant vendors assigned to a particular market will be permitted to sell during that market’s designated day.
“The existing ambulant vendors of each market will be the ones allowed to continue selling during their respective scheduled market days. Those coming from Super will no longer be allowed to enter other markets,” Mabaquiao said.
Mabaquiao described the arrangement as a “win-win solution” hammered out after Mayor Raisa Treñas met with regular and ambulant vendors to address their competing livelihood concerns.
“We are looking for an arrangement that will work for both groups. This is the win-win solution we came up with after Mayor Raisa Treñas met with the vendors and ambulant vendors,” Mabaquiao said.
The compromise came after regular vendors from various city public markets submitted a manifesto seeking the return of ambulant vendors to Super, claiming their presence during market days was cutting into their sales.
Mabaquiao stressed that returning the ambulant vendors to Super is not intended to deprive them of their livelihood but to establish clearer boundaries between their operations and those of regular vendors.
“We are simply organizing their operations so that they will not overlap with the market days and areas of regular vendors,” she said.
The LEEO will monitor the implementation of the arrangement to ensure vendors comply with their designated locations and operating schedules./PN
