Bizmen using illegal vendors to sell wares

BAGUIO CITY – Businessmen are now using ambulant vendors to sell their wares even if this is illegal.

           Following this, the city government’s public order and safety division upped its anti-peddling campaign in public market and major streets and parks to reduce ambulant vendors that constrict pedestrian flow along sidewalks.

POSD chief Policarpio C. Cambod said their anti-peddling campaign aims to restore the cleanliness and orderliness in the different crowded portions of the market and the sidewalks within the central business district and the barangays and parks.

“We have to be consistent with our anti-peddling campaign to send a clear message to our ambulant vendors that we mean business in our to bring back the streets to the pedestrians and motorists,” Cambod said.

He added the anti-peddling campaign is an offshoot of the recommendations of the Baguio-Boracay Re-development Task Force that found out in earlier inspections during previous administration  ambulant vendors impeded smooth flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

According to him, the anti-peddling campaign is also an effort to address the plight of legitimate market stallholders on need for local government to rid the sidewalks of ambulant vendors as they pay taxes to the city while those sidewalk vendors do not.

Cambod urged stakeholders in the public market and ambulant vendors to respect regulations to maintain cleanliness and orderliness in the market.

He also called on legitimate stallholders and businessmen to stop using ambulant vendors to sell their goods in the various streets to gain an advantage over their fellow stallholders legally doing their daily trade.

While the existing number of enforcers is not enough to guard the various sections of the market and the sidewalks in the central business district area from ambulant vendors, the POSD chief said that instructions were already given to them to observe maximum tolerance in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities to prevent them from potential complaints of abuse of authority.

He expressed his gratitude to ambulant vendors for their cooperation to the city’s anti-peddling policy despite the presence of hard-headed individuals who continue to vend around the city’s streets.

Cambod said enforcers understand the need for ambulant vendors to do their trade but the vendors should also understand that there are existing rules and regulations that are to be followed to sustain the gains from the city government’s efforts to bring back order and cleanliness in the city’s show window.