Illegal street vending is a perennial problem in Metro Manila. Illegal vendors and their thatched-up stores occupy parts of the streets and deny pedestrians in using the sidewalks. They also occupy many busy pedestrian overpasses, making it hard for people to pass through. The blockage caused by the illegal vendors results to build-up of traffic and generates tons of garbage every day.

The MMDA and city authorities solve this problem by removing the thatched stores off the streets. They do these clean-up operations for so many times but their efforts were fruitless. Their efforts had been in vain because many local authorities allow such build-up of illegal stores. Some of the policemen and barangay officials collect “tong” money from illegal vendors. These same authorities are the one who warn the vendors of oncoming clean-up operations. Another reason why the MMDA was not successful is the fact that the vendors do not have another ways of earning a living. So day-by-day, they defy laws against illegal vending just to earn some money to keep their families alive.

In the middle of the illegal street vending problem are the pedestrians, the motorists, and the vendors. The first two groups require that the streets be cleaned from any obstructions. The last group needed the streets for their illegal vending because the streets is much closer to the hordes of customers and the rent is just a modest “tong” to certain authorities. So far, the MMDA only answers the problem through the pedestrians and motorists point of view.

I believe that a compromise should be made regarding this problem. Instead of demolishing all illegal stores, it is better for the MMDA or city governments to reconsider some areas where street vending should be allowed. MMDA or city governments should regulate street vending in those areas, legalize the vendor’s stay, and make the set-up more orderly to allow the steady flow of traffic. In return, the MMDA or the city government will be the ones that will collect the rental fee from the vendors. This solution allows the vendors to keep their stalls and remove the control of the streets from the hands of shady government officials.

As for the pedestrian overpass, MMDA should construct it wide enough and build stalls on either side of the bridge. The stalls will then be rented off to street vendors. The vendors will then be tasked to keep the bridge clean.

I believe that these schemes are viable and will make Bayani Fernando’s image better in the eyes of illegal vendors.

Fatal error: Call to undefined function p75HasVideo() in /homepages/39/d169067170/htdocs/voices/wp-content/themes/NewFV/single-default.php on line 57