BAGUIO CITY – The local government appealed to the public and the affected night market vendors for their utmost understanding on the drastic action to temporarily suspend the operation of the night market operation along a portion of Harrison road in the next 14 days considering that it will be for the safety and security of the people in the light of the increasing confirmed Corona Virus Disease (COVID) cases aggravated by the local transmission of the deadly virus.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong pointed out that based on the projection of health experts, the COVID 2019 is expected to worsen in the coming weeks, thus, it is important for concerned health officers and local officials to be decisive in coming out with appropriate actions that will contribute in efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
Earlier, the local chief executive announced the suspension of the night market operation along Harrison road starting March 10, 2020 up to a maximum period of 14 days following the sudden surge in the number of confirmed COVID cases coupled with confirmed local transmission of the virus in the country over the past several days.
He called on the affected night market vendors to understand the declaration of a state of public health emergency by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte where one of the prohibitions include the exposure of the public to crowd drawing activities considering the need for the local government to implement the recommended precautionary measures as it is still important to prevent the spread of the illness rather than curing the affected individuals.
After the suspension of the night market operations, some affected night market vendors called on the local government to look for alternative ways on how to provide them with sources of livelihood for them to be able to earn a decent income for their families considering the negative impact of the stoppage of their nightly activities to their sources of livelihood.
More than 1,000 night market vendors are actively participating in the conduct of the night market in the city which has become a major tourist attraction because of the availability of cheap and quality products.
The city mayor claimed that the local government will be coming out with a decision on whether or not to lift the suspension on the night market operation depending on what will be the prevailing situation of the COVID after 14 days considering that the situation of the spread of the illness remains unpredictable and volatile where day to day changes are being reported by health authorities in the different parts of the world.
He explained that the business sectors has been heavily impacted by the emergency of COVID but he expressed optimism that the slump will be temporary so that concerned government agencies will be able to formulate the appropriate recovery program to allow the affected businesses to recover from the current state of the businesses as COVID cases continue to be on the rise.
The operation of the night market is generating for the local government close to P1.5 million monthly in regulatory fees collected from participating vendors where it is bringing to the city coffers substantial income with least investment on infrastructure.
By Dexter A. See
