Vendors seek ‘Christmas moratorium’ from city clearing ops

The group likewise complained that the newly-launched Suki sa Kyusi Club of the Quezon City government is “inadequate, a band-aid solution derived from a totally erroneous understanding of the economics of the informal sector and plight of vendors”. (File Photo: Brian Evans/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

Hundreds of ambulant vendors belonging to Metro Manila Vendor Alliance (MMVA) marched on Monday to the Quezon City Hall as local officials and city hall employees were led by Mayor Joy Belmonte in their weekly flag ceremony rites.

The group sought an audience from Belmonte to demand that she grant them a holiday reprieve from the city’s clearing operations by issuing a ‘Christmas moratorium’ and allow them to sell their wares during the holiday season.

“For the past seventeen years, the past mayors of Quezon City have granted us a ‘Christmas moratorium’. This is not too much to ask considering that we have consistently abided by all the regulations provided by the City Hall,” said Flora Assidao-Santos, coordinator of MMVA.

The group lamented that more than ninety days has passed since Malacanang ordered the Interior and Local Government Department to clear all sidewalks and remove all those that obstruct traffic but no alternative livelihood program has been provided for by both the national and local governments.

“Ang nais lamang namin ay maghanapbuhay. Inaalisan ang pamilya namin ng karapatan mabuhay ng clearing operations. Bakit bang kaming maliliit na lang palagi ang pinupuntirya ng administrasyong Duterte?,” the protestors complained.

MMVA members brought with them a makeshift Christmas tree and three black parol lanterns to depict the bleak holidays once Mayor Belmonte refuses to grant them a reprieve from the city hall’s clearing operations.

 “We are not against the free flow of traffic, for we ourselves benefit from it. But to clear the sidewalks should automatically mean that we are deprived of our livelihoods.” Santos pointed out.

Suki sa Kyusi Club

The group likewise complained that the newly-launched Suki sa Kyusi Club of the Quezon City government is “inadequate, a band-aid solution derived from a totally erroneous understanding of the economics of the informal sector and plight of vendors”.

“We acknowledge the efforts of the City government to provide venues for us to ply our trade but this program misses the entire point why vendors exist in the first place,” Santos said.

The Suki sa Kyusi Club is a program intented to provide temporary relocation vending sites for vendors displaced by the clearing opetations. So far only two areas have been identified and less than 40 percent of the total number of displaced vendors can be accomodated. The night markets will be open from November 24 to January 24 next year.