MAJORITY of the members of Bacolod Vendors’ Plaza Association in Barangay 12 are not opposed to the rehabilitation of the facility, but they urged the City Government to provide them an area where they can continue their business.
“We are not saying we will not vacate, but just give us an area for our business,” association president Julie Ann Atienza said Monday, September 18.
Atienza said they failed to attend Saturday’s dialogue with the city officials because the City Administrator's Office sent the letter morning of September 15, and they sent their postponement letter in the afternoon of the same day.
The City Government rescheduled the dialogue on Wednesday at the Bacolod Government Center.
Atienza said they will leave the facility peacefully, with all their 85 members, if they will be allowed them to go back to their original area at the terminal adjacent to the Vendors’ Plaza.
She recalled that during the time of former Mayor Monico Puentevella, their stalls were dismantled and transferred inside the Vendors’ Plaza.
Atienza said their association was registered with the Department of Labor and Employment on July 25, 2017 and in previous years; the members were paying P20 daily rent to the City Government.
City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan said they will continue the clearing operation at the Vendors’ Plaza after the dialogue with the occupants on Wednesday.
He said the closure was rescheduled after the occupants failed to show up last Saturday.
“We are firm to clear the Vendors’ Plaza because they illegally occupied the area. We are ready really to let them vacate the premises, but we will give them an opportunity to vacate the area. We want the clearing operation to be orderly and let them understand the right of the city and their duty,” Bayatan added.
