Renowl
2004-02-21 08:29:53 UTC
by Alecks P. Pabico
THE HOURS they spent there for many years were mostly drenched in sweat, but
Rosario and Manuel Mata can only speak fondly of the Caloocan Poblacion Market.
Through the money they earned selling general merchandise from two rented
stalls at the city public market, the Matas were able to feed, clothe, and send
their four children to school, right up to college. All four now work as
professionals — the tangible dividends of their proud parents' toil.
Rosario and Manuel, however, say it is ironic that they are now deep in debt,
just when they no longer have to worry about their children. Since last year,
the Matas and some 400 other stall holders and street vendors have seen their
earnings reduced to a pittance.
All of them had been "relocated" to a nearby plaza while the old palengke was
transformed into a commercial center. Rosario says because of that transfer,
they lost their long-time suki (clients) either to private markets with ample
provisions for parking or to the talipapa set up by ambulant vendors along the
nearby railway
Until recently, the Matas and other vendors believed they would get back their
old stalls once work at the palengke was finished. But while that was what the
city government promised before they were transferred, Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo
has since decided to allow the entry of private companies in the operation and
management of public services and facilities. These include the public market,
and the mayor has acknowledged that his decision is likely to result in rental
rates beyond the reach of palengke vendors.
He has thus asked the sangguniang panlungsod (city council) to enact an
ordinance declaring the plaza as the permanent site of the public market, but
the vendors are insisting they were guaranteed their former stalls at the old
palengke. With the likes of big-time real-estate developers and mall operators
like Sta. Lucia and Robinsons being the possible investors in the new
commercial center, however, the vendors are not c6nfident they will get what
they want.
Their plight is not unique. In this era of globalization, both national and
local governments are succumbing to economic, social, and other pressures to
privatize public services and facilities. Public markets have topped the list
of public facilities undergoing privatization, and record numbers of vendors
across the country are losing their stalls — and their means of livelihood.
Rudy Dalangin, president of the National Federation of Market Vendors
Cooperatives (Namvesco), counts thousands of their members, erstwhile stall
owners in public markets in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, who have been
relegated to street vending after they were displaced by the conversion of
palengkes to commercial centers.
The Caloocan palengke vendors, however, are trying desperately to escape that
fate. They have been told that the new stall rates would be P100 per square
meter a month, but the vendors are standing pat on their demand for a monthly
rate of P20 per square meter. In truth, this amount had been agreed upon in an
earlier memorandum between them and the city administration (but which Mayor
Malonzo refused to sign). Efren Salazar, president of the vendors' association,
says they are amenable to this amount, even though it translates to a fortune
to most of their members. Besides, he says, the P100 per square meter is
already equivalent to that collected by medium-sized private markets like the
Suki Department Store.
"If you have a 2 x 3 square meter stall, at P20 per square meter, that's P120 a
day o P3,600 a month," says Salazar. "Before I was paying just P600 a month.
That means an increase of 600 percent. If you base it on a P100-rate, you will
be paying P 18,000 a month. That's an even bigger increase."
But the issue over rental rates has become academic as far as the city
government is concerned. After all, it has already declared the relocation site
as the permanent venue of the Poblacion Market as per the request, says city
administrator Mamerto Manahan, of the vendors' leaders themselves. But the
vendors say there was no such request, and that officials are merely bent on
sowing dissension among their ranks. They also say it is likely that the
Malonzo administration has been pursuing the market's privatization all along,
and that they were merely tricked into believing their transfer to the plaza
would only be temporary.
Interestingly, the principal author of the ordinance authorizing the city
government to finance its priority projects — among them the public market
— is among those siding with the vendors. Rep. Edgar Erice, who had authored
the ordinance when he was still city councilor, says that based on the
project's should be able to return to their stalls in the new market.
"There should be no problem with having the public market there, then using the
front part for something else, so that its potential as a highly commercial
area can be maximized," says Erice. "The old tenants are provided for in the
contract."
THAT THERE are still public markets able to survive the onslaught of
supermarkets and malls can be traced largely to the enduring popularity of the
wet-market section, which continues to draw people who cannot afford to buy
from air-conditioned foodstores. Thus, the usual proposed setup in converting
the palengke to a commercial center involves a token concession of a wet market
that is less strategically located, either at the back or basement/ground level
of the establishment.
The upper floors or the main building, however, are devoted entirely to
enterprises by private retailers or franchisees. Among the more profitable
ventures have been Jollibee and other fastfood restaurants as well as cinemas.
That, Dalangin rues, is the more lamentable, though hidden, impact of the
palengke. He says, "We are against turning the public market into something
like a mall because the market is the meeting place of Filipinos — just like
the park or the church. They see each other every day, especially in a
community where the members are already familiar with each other."
Indeed, as part of the "public commons," the public market is responsible not
only for supporting inexpensive retailing opportunities for small entrepreneurs
but also for "creat(ing) dynamic places and instill(ing) community spirit and
cultural exchange," says a 1996 study of markets worldwide done by Spitzer and
Baum. A visitor wanting to know the character of a place in fact can just go to
the public market, which showcases and celebrates what is unique and best about
the local community
Since they function on a human scale, public markets also provide a more
spontaneous atmosphere than other retail environments. Says Dalangin, "Nandiyan
Yung tawaran, tumpok-tumpok. Yung suki system na wala sa isang airconditioned
supermarket o mall (You have the bargaining, the mounds of produce, the
frequent-client system, all of which are absent in an air-conditioned
supermarket or mall)."
Advocates of the public commons therefore see privatization as plunder in the
name of "economic growth." This leads Dalangin to ask: "Does that mean that
having a mall is now the new symbol of progress?"
But even if the public market is not taken over by a commercial developer, the
mere presence of a supermarket or mall nearby is bound to hasten its demise.
Dalangin cites the experience of Central Market in Manila after an Isetann
department store and the Tutuban Mall were built just a few steps away Today 40
percent of the market's stalls are empty
A similar thing happened to the public market in Calamba, Laguna after the
likes of big retailers Walter Mart and Liana's Supermart were allowed to
operate in the vicinity Dalangin estimates that about 50 to 60 percent of
public-market sales, particularly from the dry-goods section, have been gobbled
up by supermarkets and malls.
Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved.
PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
THE HOURS they spent there for many years were mostly drenched in sweat, but
Rosario and Manuel Mata can only speak fondly of the Caloocan Poblacion Market.
Through the money they earned selling general merchandise from two rented
stalls at the city public market, the Matas were able to feed, clothe, and send
their four children to school, right up to college. All four now work as
professionals — the tangible dividends of their proud parents' toil.
Rosario and Manuel, however, say it is ironic that they are now deep in debt,
just when they no longer have to worry about their children. Since last year,
the Matas and some 400 other stall holders and street vendors have seen their
earnings reduced to a pittance.
All of them had been "relocated" to a nearby plaza while the old palengke was
transformed into a commercial center. Rosario says because of that transfer,
they lost their long-time suki (clients) either to private markets with ample
provisions for parking or to the talipapa set up by ambulant vendors along the
nearby railway
Until recently, the Matas and other vendors believed they would get back their
old stalls once work at the palengke was finished. But while that was what the
city government promised before they were transferred, Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo
has since decided to allow the entry of private companies in the operation and
management of public services and facilities. These include the public market,
and the mayor has acknowledged that his decision is likely to result in rental
rates beyond the reach of palengke vendors.
He has thus asked the sangguniang panlungsod (city council) to enact an
ordinance declaring the plaza as the permanent site of the public market, but
the vendors are insisting they were guaranteed their former stalls at the old
palengke. With the likes of big-time real-estate developers and mall operators
like Sta. Lucia and Robinsons being the possible investors in the new
commercial center, however, the vendors are not c6nfident they will get what
they want.
Their plight is not unique. In this era of globalization, both national and
local governments are succumbing to economic, social, and other pressures to
privatize public services and facilities. Public markets have topped the list
of public facilities undergoing privatization, and record numbers of vendors
across the country are losing their stalls — and their means of livelihood.
Rudy Dalangin, president of the National Federation of Market Vendors
Cooperatives (Namvesco), counts thousands of their members, erstwhile stall
owners in public markets in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, who have been
relegated to street vending after they were displaced by the conversion of
palengkes to commercial centers.
The Caloocan palengke vendors, however, are trying desperately to escape that
fate. They have been told that the new stall rates would be P100 per square
meter a month, but the vendors are standing pat on their demand for a monthly
rate of P20 per square meter. In truth, this amount had been agreed upon in an
earlier memorandum between them and the city administration (but which Mayor
Malonzo refused to sign). Efren Salazar, president of the vendors' association,
says they are amenable to this amount, even though it translates to a fortune
to most of their members. Besides, he says, the P100 per square meter is
already equivalent to that collected by medium-sized private markets like the
Suki Department Store.
"If you have a 2 x 3 square meter stall, at P20 per square meter, that's P120 a
day o P3,600 a month," says Salazar. "Before I was paying just P600 a month.
That means an increase of 600 percent. If you base it on a P100-rate, you will
be paying P 18,000 a month. That's an even bigger increase."
But the issue over rental rates has become academic as far as the city
government is concerned. After all, it has already declared the relocation site
as the permanent venue of the Poblacion Market as per the request, says city
administrator Mamerto Manahan, of the vendors' leaders themselves. But the
vendors say there was no such request, and that officials are merely bent on
sowing dissension among their ranks. They also say it is likely that the
Malonzo administration has been pursuing the market's privatization all along,
and that they were merely tricked into believing their transfer to the plaza
would only be temporary.
Interestingly, the principal author of the ordinance authorizing the city
government to finance its priority projects — among them the public market
— is among those siding with the vendors. Rep. Edgar Erice, who had authored
the ordinance when he was still city councilor, says that based on the
project's should be able to return to their stalls in the new market.
"There should be no problem with having the public market there, then using the
front part for something else, so that its potential as a highly commercial
area can be maximized," says Erice. "The old tenants are provided for in the
contract."
THAT THERE are still public markets able to survive the onslaught of
supermarkets and malls can be traced largely to the enduring popularity of the
wet-market section, which continues to draw people who cannot afford to buy
from air-conditioned foodstores. Thus, the usual proposed setup in converting
the palengke to a commercial center involves a token concession of a wet market
that is less strategically located, either at the back or basement/ground level
of the establishment.
The upper floors or the main building, however, are devoted entirely to
enterprises by private retailers or franchisees. Among the more profitable
ventures have been Jollibee and other fastfood restaurants as well as cinemas.
That, Dalangin rues, is the more lamentable, though hidden, impact of the
palengke. He says, "We are against turning the public market into something
like a mall because the market is the meeting place of Filipinos — just like
the park or the church. They see each other every day, especially in a
community where the members are already familiar with each other."
Indeed, as part of the "public commons," the public market is responsible not
only for supporting inexpensive retailing opportunities for small entrepreneurs
but also for "creat(ing) dynamic places and instill(ing) community spirit and
cultural exchange," says a 1996 study of markets worldwide done by Spitzer and
Baum. A visitor wanting to know the character of a place in fact can just go to
the public market, which showcases and celebrates what is unique and best about
the local community
Since they function on a human scale, public markets also provide a more
spontaneous atmosphere than other retail environments. Says Dalangin, "Nandiyan
Yung tawaran, tumpok-tumpok. Yung suki system na wala sa isang airconditioned
supermarket o mall (You have the bargaining, the mounds of produce, the
frequent-client system, all of which are absent in an air-conditioned
supermarket or mall)."
Advocates of the public commons therefore see privatization as plunder in the
name of "economic growth." This leads Dalangin to ask: "Does that mean that
having a mall is now the new symbol of progress?"
But even if the public market is not taken over by a commercial developer, the
mere presence of a supermarket or mall nearby is bound to hasten its demise.
Dalangin cites the experience of Central Market in Manila after an Isetann
department store and the Tutuban Mall were built just a few steps away Today 40
percent of the market's stalls are empty
A similar thing happened to the public market in Calamba, Laguna after the
likes of big retailers Walter Mart and Liana's Supermart were allowed to
operate in the vicinity Dalangin estimates that about 50 to 60 percent of
public-market sales, particularly from the dry-goods section, have been gobbled
up by supermarkets and malls.
Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved.
PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM