BAGUIO CITY – Market vendor organizations and cooperatives underscored that they are capable of undertaking the proposed multi-billion development of the Baguio city public market with their own resources contrary to the perception of city officials that they do not have the capacity to do so.
Representatives of the different market vendor associations and cooperatives reiterated their position that they are not opposed to the proposed market development but the same should be undertaken by the vendors themselves in supposed collaboration with the city government and not for the project to be simply given away to a giant corporation that may cause their displacement from their established livelihoods.
The groups pointed out that the market is a haven of micro and small enterprises and when mixed with large businesses such as in the case of a mall, there will come a time that the large business will eventually eat up the small businesses leading to their eventual displacement with the large businesses dominating the operation of the market.
One of the clear manifestations of their capacity to pursue the multi-billion project is their ability to produce the desired alternative master development plan that was supposed to be in collaboration with the city government but the latter abandoned this and opted to pursue the so-called public-private partnership (PPP) scheme and eventually decided to work on the unsolicited proposals.
According to the representatives of the market vendors, there are other large cooperatives in the city that signified their intention to partner with the five existing market cooperatives to pursue their project in compliance to existing laws, rules and regulations.
The associations and cooperatives called on the city government not to simply give away the market to a giant corporation as it will cause the massive displacement of vendors that have relied on the market for their livelihood for decades.
Currently, the five existing market vendor associations and cooperatives have a combined asset of up to P12 billion aside from the commitment they have gotten from other operating large cooperatives in the city which show that they are capable to mobilise resources and pursue the project on their own.
What is ironical in this matter is that some city officials had already judged that they are not capable of implementing the project and instead sought for a partner to work on the multi-billion project even without assessing and evaluating the capacity of the groups to partner with other concerned stakeholders to pursue the long-overdue development of the market.
The groups asserted they will exhaust all available remedies for them to take back the initiative to implement the proposed market development because this will help in sustaining their sources of livelihood instead of causing their displacement with the city being a premier tourist destination where visitors prefer to visit the public market for local cheaper and fresh products rather than going to a mall.
They appealed to city officials to be mindful to the interest of micro and small businesses instead of promoting the interest of large businesses that kill the small ones.