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cfermin@theguidon.com
It’s the holiday season again, and for thrifty shopaholics like me, it means heaven as it marks the prevalence of tiangges and bazaars all over the metro. From the spacious World Trade Center to the narrow streets of Divisoria, various trinkets and articles in all shapes and sizes are sold at very affordable prices.
This Christmas, these shopping stalls are the venue of very different scenarios. Reports show the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (SCOG) of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) using force and violence to drive away illegal street vendors. They come in their huge trucks, quickly spread out and confiscate everything in sight. Then one by one, carts and stalls are torn down to pieces. Just a few years back, they even brought kerosene to burn the wares right there and then.
Some vendors do manage to escape with whatever is left of their goods, but the rest watch in horror and grief as their only means of livelihood is taken away just like that. While all these are happening, angry words and curses are exchanged between the vendors and MMDA. In extreme cases, the latter fight back leaving both parties severely injured, even lifeless. Nevertheless, it is the vendors who suffer greater loss and damages at the end of each ruckus.
Indeed, the MMDA officers are only doing their jobs, seeking to clear the streets from illegal vendors to allow better flow of traffic and reduce the unfair competition these entails authorized vendors. However, the methodology with which the operations are done is far from just and humane. It has even led several groups as well as local officials to file cases against MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando because they perceive his means of implementation as violation of human rights.
Undeniably, the vendors have no right to conduct their business in the streets and sidewalks since they don’t have any business permit and they are not paying for rent. However, this does not justify the unnecessary and excessive use of force in evicting them. What they are doing is a relatively small act of crime compared to that of robbery or kidnapping. Besides, these measures employed by the MMDA aren’t even effective. Once they leave the area, give it an hour or so, and you can expect to see another wave of illegal street vendors setting up or haggling with buyers.
They are that stubborn and persistent not because they want to spite the MMDA nor intentionally create traffic. They go back because they need the income badly. They are there because there are no other alternatives. They are risking their capital and lives away just to earn a few bucks and relieve them and their families for the time being. So why unjustly beat them down and destroy all their paraphernalia? Would we rather that they resort to worse acts of crime or wander around and beg for alms?
Instead of discouraging and depriving them of their trade, the local government should find ways to accommodate them. In Malaysia, for example, the pasar malam (night market) was created as a solution for illegal street vending. Who knows? These vendors might end up boosting tourism, encouraging the free flow of money, and mitigating the effects of the economic downturn facing us today.
