Davao sidewalk vendors ask mayor to provide them space

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 Nov) – Members of the Agdao Laray Muslim and Christian Vendors Association (ALMACVA) here are asking Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte to appropriately allocate spaces for them where they can sell their goods “without fearing” of having their products taken by the city’s demolition team.

Rachel Jamio, president of the Agdao Laray Muslim and Christian Vendors Association (ALMACVA), lead members in a gathering at the Rizal Park Thursday morning (21 November 2024) to raise their concerns to the city government. MindaNews photo by IAN CARL ESPINOSA

The ALMACVA vendors, who admitted to encroaching on sidewalks along Soliman St. intended for pedestrians, said they would want to talk personally to Duterte to have their livelihood problems solved, as they “find it difficult to make a living” due to regular clearing operations and demolitions “against the vendors and informal workers surrounding the Agdao Public Market.”

“As much as we wanted to avail of the stalls inside the new Agdao Public Market, we cannot afford to pay the high rates and deal with other bureaucratic requirements,” ALMACVA said in the vernacular in their letter addressed to the city mayor dated Nov. 21.

Soliman St. is around 300 meters from the Agdao Public Market, and the next parallel street from Wilfredo Aquino Rd., which fronts the exit of the main market.

ALMACVA president Rachel Jamio shared that they would pay P10 monthly per one-meter stall so they could sell from 4 to 7 p.m., a fee that personnel from the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) collects as part of a “barangay ordinance.”

In these stalls, many of which are situated just outside their houses, ALMACVA members would sell vegetables, fruits, and fish.

But sometimes, Jamio said, they would sell past 7 p.m., and then personnel from the Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) would come and confiscate their goods. They could only claim them back every Wednesday at the ASU office in Barangay Ma-a, which is a 25-minute ride from Soliman St., she noted.

Jamio lamented that the main market vendor’s association would not recognize them as members.

She is hoping they would be allowed to sell 200 meters away, or even farther, from the main market so they would not compete with the vendors in the market.

ALMACVA vendors convened at the Rizal Park Thursday morning to air their sentiments, but were immediately dispersed peacefully by officers of the Civil Security Unit.

“Our goal is to visit the City Mayor’s Office and to visit every city councilor to have our sentiments aired,” Jamio told reporters. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)