City officials requested the City Mayor’s Office through the Permits and Licensing Division to allow the visually impaired persons to conduct busking activities in front of AP-O mart along Session road for a period of six months.
Under Resolution No. 159, series of 2022, city legislators claimed that the council adopted several resolutions similarly situated for newspaper stand vendors and watch repair proprietors to allowed them to stay further until concrete plans and arrangements for them to be accommodated in relocation areas in the city had been put in place by the concerned departments and offices of the local government.
The council pointed out that for humanitarian reasons, the visually impaired persons have been pleading that they be allowed to conduct busking activities in certain areas along Session road as another source of income and to lessen their burden in their households which typically face extra cost and expenditures related to their disabilities.
The body admitted that the visually impaired persons in the city are among the vulnerable and marginalized sectors greatly affected by the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and during this transition period, they have been conducting busking activities in front of AP-O Mart below Tea House at Session road to earn a living as their income as masseurs is not enough to provide for the needs of their families due to the limited number of clients.
According to the council, the group of the visually impaired persons is composed of individuals in the various barangays of the city who deserve to have a sustainable source of income.
The council claimed that the owner of the mart has no complaint over the busking activities of the group.
Ironically, on March 28, 2022, barangay officials of Kabayanihan informed these visually impaired persons they can no longer conduct their busking activities in the said area pursuant to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum circular No. 2020-145 which mandates local governments to clear roads and sidewalks of obstructions and non-compliant thereof will be treated as an obstruction.
Photo by Armando Bolislis
