Monday, April 28, 2014

Investigative Journalism




Lapu-Lapu City Street Vendors 
vs. 
CTMS Task Force: A Never-Ending Battle


Street vending
Informal trading has existed ever since goods and services were levied. Hence, this type of entrepreneurship has been operating since time immemorial.  The most prevalent facets of this business sector are street and ambulant vending.

Street vending is often associated with mobile stalls, cheaper goods, and services; however, it has also been attributed to smuggled and counterfeit merchandise. In some cases, these informal trades create a foyer of the products from larger manufacturing companies involved in underground economy. The government fights a never-ending battle against these delinquents. Special task force operations are done to completely wipe them out but their determination to eradicate these informal sectors is tantamount to the vendors’ resistance to the regulation.

This industry has received undesirable commentaries and ghastly forms of riddance over the years. The cause of these unjust ways of abolishing the street traders can be charged to their resistance from abiding the rules and legal processes of taxation and business permits. Majority of the street vendors does not obtain legal consent to sell or operate along the sidewalks due to their failure to comply certain requirements such as proper sanitation, stall locations, and authenticity of goods and even services offered. 

Philippine perspective on street trading
In the Philippines, street trading has become a customary sight that triggers no protest or any forms of grumble from the pedestrians or even from the government sectors. For many years, street vending has become the way of living for small-scale enterprise owners who do not have sufficient financial resources to secure an authorized place for operating their business. Most of these street entrepreneurs emerged from the rural areas to the cities with the hopes of finding an opportunity to earn for a living. Majority of them do not bear the qualifications to seek employment in the formal sector so they resort to entrepreneurship that requires a smaller capital to begin with. With a few items to sell, they prefer to find comfort on the sidewalks and sheds because they do not pay taxes nor rent for a place on designated places such as public markets. They think it is just fair not to be levied for their earnings are even smaller than what they need to survive.

Counterfeit and substandard products
Most of what they sell includes cheap food items like candies, fruits, and Pinoy street food. Some also displays dry goods such as body accessories, footwear, clothes, and home ornaments. This perspective remained true over the years until the emergence of imported merchandise. In the past a small-scale and micro business owner did not face fears in competition against imported brands. Local products draw an advantage over these internationally branded goods because of the glaring differences in pricing. Although quality is implied in the expensiveness of a product, local creations do not stand too far from the line in terms of quality. Most consumers especially those who belong to the middle classes prefer to patronize local products and compromise quality over price.

This is a thing in the past. Today, consumers would often choose imported goods for an exactly opposite reason. Contrary to the perception that buyers has before, imported goods are much cheaper now compared to local brands. A variety of choices are also available in a more affordable price. The patronage of local products has become rarely practiced. The accessibility of the said merchandise has also contributed to the impressive support of local consumers to these types of goods. So how come these imported products became cheaper than the local stuff? If one is not a local himself, he may not understand the rationale of this. These cheap imported products are either smuggled or counterfeit. It has been a known fact which has not been regulated or in some cases, tolerated and even protected by some government officials and agencies. These goods are deliberately sold on the streets. The face of street vending has drastically changed from small items to wide selection of branded imitations. Locals often term it “imit” or “China” because these products are widely known to be made in China and exported through the backdoor of Philippine ports.

In the urban streets of Cebu, an emerging group of street vendors has also become visible. They are the Muslims who sell their merchandise from apparels to gadgets. The authenticity of these products is questioned; however, they continue to penetrate the local business sector.

Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) director general Ricardo R. Blancaflor reports that his agency has partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the US Embassy to clamp down on IP violations. Authorities also added that there was an annual drop in the value of confiscated fake merchandise in 2012 from 2011 because of the improved enforcement of intellectual property laws. This sounds good news but this does not hold true in some areas in Cebu City and Lapu-lapu City. The deliberate selling of these products are tolerated and even supported by both the consumers and government sectors.

Street vending affects motorist and pedestrians
Apart from the questions of authenticity and quality of the products being sold by street vendors, the space they occupy which becomes a contributing factor to obstruction of the traffic flow and to the pedestrians have constantly been condemned. They occupy much space to the point of invading even the main road where vehicles pass. Pedestrians, on the other hand, would take pains in using the road along with the herding vehicles.

Flor, a fifty-year old mother, considers herself a “suki” (frequent or loyal customer) of the street vendors in Opon Market for more than 20 years now. She goes to the wet market almost every day and attends mass every Sunday at Birhen de la Regla Church. She admits that she finds the existence of these vendors beneficial to her because she can bargain with their pricing. She also finds them accessible when she forgets something on her grocery list.

“Pero samok kaayo ni sila kun ma-Dominggo kay dili ta ka-agi,” Flor said as she expresses her sentiments about the proliferation of these vendors especially on Sundays when a mass of churchgoers pass through the sidewalks with the vehicles cueing up in traffic. This has become a constant complaint of the pedestrians along Lopez Jaena and Rerdon Streets which serve as main roads for motorists and churchgoers.

CTMS Task Force views
According to Lapu-lapu City Traffic Management System (CTMS) Task Force, they are aware of this scenario but there are no formal complaints filed from the pedestrians and motorists. For the first quarter of this year, they have only received complaints from big business establishments operating near Opon Market such as Asian Home, La Nueva Supermarket, and Kakeng confirmed the Task Force personnel, Mr. Denti Pascual.

When one of the respondents was asked about filing a formal complaint to CTMS, she thinks it is a waste of time when nothing happens at the end.

“Kaduol anang office sa CTMS sa simbahan apan wa sila makakita anang sitwasyona,” she said. CTMS office sits beside the Birhen de la Regla Shrine but the Task Force office is situated beside Lapu-lapu City Hall.

Pascual confirms that the Clearing Team conducts demolition operations randomly. They do not literally chase after the street vendors but they confiscate their merchandise. He admits that it is quite taxing on their part to seize the products especially the ambulant sidecars and tables. He added that they only have seven men on duty during the day and eight during the night. Most of their personnel are senior citizens who either lack the strength to perform the job well or have gone tired of performing the same task repeatedly. The clearing team admits they lack human resources to fulfill the task at hand.

If this is the case, why are they still keeping personnel who cannot be effective in the job? Since they are aware of these issues on efficacy, action plans must be set and implemented.

Questions like why these street vendors still continue to crowd the sidewalks are also raised.  Pascual pointed out the insufficiency of the ordinance that outlines their right to put the confiscated merchandise on hold.

Inadequacy of implementing ordinance
City Ordinance 484-97, “Comprehensive Environmental and Sanitation Code of Lapu-lapu City” only provides that the Clearing Team is allowed to store the merchandise within 15 days. Under Article III, Section 8 of the same ordinance, the offenders may render a penalty of Php300.00 to Php1,000.00 which also depends on the number of times a vendor has offended.

This implies that after the vendor has paid his dues, she can get his supplies again. Pascual explains that this can cause repeat offenders. On their third offense, the vendor should never be allowed to sell on the streets again.

Pascual contrasts the existing ordinance in Lapu-lapu City to that of the ordinance in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue. They do not return the supplies forcing the street vendors to drift away from street enterprising.

However, for Lapu-lapu City, this problem becomes a never-ending process. Most of the vendors who pay to get their merchandise back are women who tag their children along and beg for another chance to start another business away from the streets. According to Pascual, they would normally talk to the team’s consultant, Ms. Cleofe Solis which kind of stirs an emotional response in the part of Solis.

“Kani lagi’ng babae, maluoy pud magtan-aw sa mga tindera nga maghilak nya mag-guroy-guroy sa ilan’g gagmay’ng anak,” said Pasual in an interview. Most often this scenario would lead to a remissive ending wherein the offender gets a chance to commit the same violation.

Another challenge that the Clearing Team pointed out is the lack of escorts for security and protection when the vendors tend to be more aggressive during the demolition. Pascual recalls an incident when one the members of the team got wounded during the clearing operations. He emphasized that they are not allowed to bring arms and the escorts were on-the-job police cadets who even leaped into the patrol car to secure themselves. It is indeed, a risky task for them and they are left without any security.

 A chance for the street vendors
One most important concern called into question is the lenient treatment of the sidewalk vendors during the night, holidays, and weekends. Pascual explains that their operations do not stop even during the mentioned days. He uses the term “chance” to describe the opportunity they give to the vendors during specified hours on weekdays and weekends including holidays.

During weekdays and Sundays, street vendors are allowed to start displaying their goods at 5 PM onwards. Sundays are the busiest days of the week for Opon streets because it lies near the church yet the CTMS give leeway to the vendors during these days.

Is there something wrong with this kind of logic?

CTMS Task Force said they conduct an inventory of all the street vendors who are allowed to sell during the holidays and weekends, and the busy hours of in the afternoon during weekdays. They track the names to regulate the number of vendors that can occupy the sidewalks.

It seems sardonic that the people who clear the sidewalks are the same people who allow the vendors to settle and find a place near the street. On this note, Pascual clarifies that they have this invisible demarcation line that sets the vendors from the streets to keep them from impeding the traffic flow.

Where do these vendors occupy? On the pavements which pedestrians are supposed to use. Isn’t this still called obstruction of sidewalks? Then, why are they allowing this?

Street vendors’ perspective
Two of the respondents among the sidewalk vendors, Jasmine and Chona, claim that they have never experienced such dilemma in making a living when Arturo Radaza was still the incumbent mayor. They were free to display their merchandise whatever time they desire to be there. Currently, with Paz Radaza as the city mayor, all things obstructing the traffic flow and the sidewalks have been knocked down. Since then, the vendors are always on the look out of the Clearing Team.

“Mudagan mi kun naa sila pero mubalik ra pud mi kay wala man mi lain panginabuhian,” explains Chona, a street vendor who has been selling for more than 20 years. Running from the Clearing Team sparks a little tension on what seems to be a routine for them.

Most of the vendors who choose to stay on the sidewalks have a common reason of repeating their offense despite the penalties – lacks opportunities for income generation. Jasmine, a sidewalk vendor who has been selling for 13 years, also shared that he she has some debts to pay every day so she is left without a choice but to take the risk in street vending wherein they do not have to pay for space rent.

 Sound judgment
It is quite a humane act to consider the sentiments shared by the street vendors; however, these boil down to personal justification. The underlying cause of implementing laws and ordinances is for the welfare of the general public.

Hence, street vending should not be tolerated. Aside from obstructing the sidewalks and traffic flow, this type of informal trade has also become a nesting place for counterfeit and substandard products. Plans of enhancing the city ordinance are conceptualized by the authorities; however, they remain hollow ideas until acted out.
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