TACLOBAN CITY – City market superintendent Cesar Saliput has vowed to carry out the order of Mayor Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez, for him to clean and free th market area from ambulant vendors.
“I organized a team to conduct the operations for these vendors to be relocated as where they should be,” Saliput told Leyte Samar Daily Express, referring to the two-storey new public market building constructed by the city government in 2004.
Last week, the group organized by Saliput removed about20 makeshifts constructed by the vendors along Tarcela Street. However, many of these makeshifts have yet to be removed by the team.
Street vendors at the market premises continue to proliferate despite the January 6 deadline set by Romualdez to Saliput.
Saliput said that immediately after receiving the order of the city mayor, he conducted the “cleaning operation” directed against the market vendors.
He, however, admitted to Express that while he was conscious of the deadline set by the city mayor, he could not just immediately remove all the street vendors along the premises of the market area.
“We are dealing here with people who just wanted to earn a decent living. We cannot use force for them to be removed off the street. We have to do the job through persuasion,” Saliput said.
Still, he vowed to heed the order of the chief executive who appear to be bent in placing all the city’s estimated more than 200 street vendors to the new public market building.
Mayor Romualdez had earlier issued an order to Saliput to remove all the street vendors, including those who constructed makeshifts within the market area, saying that he would like to see the market area free from any obstruction.
With the vendors occupying the new two-storey public market building, the city could recoup its P92 million used to construct the said building, Romualdez said.
It was learned from him that the city has still a long time to go before it could even recoup half of the amount used in constructing the building. So far, there were only 22 stalls that are occupied by the vendors, generating an income of P128,800 last year.
In case Saliput fails to accomplish the order of the city mayor, he faces the prospects of being removed from his post.
But this early, Saliput made known of his displeasure that he would be removed if he would fail to carry out the order of the city mayor as he reiterated that accomplishing the order in so short a time was rather a tall order.
“Using force will not serve as well. But still, we will do our duty as ordered by the mayor,” the market superintendent said.
Saliput had been removed from his post for several times by the city mayor for various reason only to be reassigned again to the post he had been holding since the time of former Mayor Uldarico Mate.
