BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development has released cash assistance totaling P14.1 million to 1,410 vendors displaced by a fire that razed parts of the public market here on Saturday, March 11.
THE Baguio City Public Market is slowly rising from the ashes of the fire on Saturday, March 4. (JJ Landingin)
Beneficiaries received their P10,000 each at the PFVR Gymnasium on March 17. Their eligibility was assessed and processed by the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
Out of the 1,640 vendors with business permits per the City Treasury Office, 230 failed to register and did not receive assistance.
The CSWDO said they are working out a system to accommodate vendors who failed to register after the cut-off period.
Family food packs from the city government were also provided by the CSWDO to the beneficiaries.
The massive cleanup drive continues at the public market with around 200 Baguio City Police Office (BCPO), Public Order and Safety Division (POSD), and General Services Office (GSO) personnel, and other volunteers participating.
As temporary solution, City Market Superintendent Ceasar Emilio said the city government will allot 84 slots at Malcom Square and 32 spaces at Igorot Garden for displaced vendors at the dry goods section through drawing of slots among 500 affected vendors.
Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, in a special session on Thursday, March 16, approved P8 million for the rehabilitation of Blocks 3 and 4 razed by the fire. The amount has been certified available by the Local Finance Committee.
The amount given to beneficiaries was sourced from the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).
Meanwhile, a semblance of normalcy is back at the public market. Some vendors have returned to their original stalls while others have temporary vending sites.
POSD acting chief Daryll Kim Longid said that 90 percent of the cleanup drive is done and some 60 percent of the temporary stalls are up.
Longid said they are confident that with hundreds of volunteers along with POSD personnel, they will be able to meet the seven-day deadline imposed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong to reopen the market.
Magalong appealed to vendors from Block 3 unaffected by the fire help as out of the almost 8,000 vendors in the market, only 50 volunteered in the cleanup.
He said that “Oplan: Bangon Palengke” is going smoothly and they will meet the deadline on Monday, March 20.