BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan underscored that there will be no jeepney association that will be displaced once the Baguio City Market Authority (BCMA) will implement the approved extension of the night market along a portion of Perfecto St. primarily geared towards accommodating the hundreds of walk in vendors wanting to sell their goods in the area.
The local chief executive lashed back at certain individuals and groups who are trying to sow confusion among the members of the various jeepney associations using portions of Perfecto St. as their terminals, saying that the extension of the night market is designed to benefit the perennial walk-in vendors who line up at the City Treasury Office to try their luck selling their goods by awaiting the slots not be paid for by the legitimate night market vendors.
He also denied rumors circulating among the drivers and operators of jeepney associations using Perfecto St. as their terminals that the operation of the night market in the said place will start at 6 pm, which is much earlier than the 9 am regular start of the night market along Harrison Road.
Further, the mayor pointed out that there will be no jeepney association that will be displaced from their allocated parking slots contrary to rumors among jeepney drivers of Kias that their loading area will be transferred to the old city auditorium because the space allotted for their jeepneys will be used for the extension of the night market.
“We have to explain to the officers and members of the concerned jeepney associations that the extension of the night market operations along portions of Perfecto St. will not result to their displacement because the BCMA will not approve the proposed extension if there will be some individuals and groups who will be deprived of their sources of livelihood. We will take the initiative of meeting with the concerned operators and drivers for us to be able to address their concerns before the implementation of the extension,” Domogan stressed.
It has been brought to his attention that there are some night market vendors and local officials trying to derail the implementation of the extension of the night market by spreading the wrong information, trying to ignite a strong opposition to the said plan. According to him, the local government will not allow the selfish and political interests of a few to prevail over the public’s greater need for more stalls from which to conduct business with.
He appealed to concerned sectors to seek clarification from the various offices of the local government on the different issues that simply crop up, to be updated and provided with vital information that will guide them in deciding whether or not the information relayed to them by their colleagues is true and so as not to defame the local government and the city officials due to wrong perception and interpretation.
Aside from accommodating the walk-in vendors as legitimate vendors who will pursue their trade, Domogan claimed one of the purposes of the extension is to at least widen the slots earlier allocated to the night market vendors for more goods to be accommodated and to provide more breathing space for everyone.
By Dexter A. See
