BACOLOD CITY – This highly-urbanized city has intensified its campaign to clear public roads and sidewalks of illegal structures and obstructions to improve traffic management and pedestrian safety.

Mayor Greg Gasataya said that barangays have been tapped to support the ongoing implementation and maintenance of cleared areas.

“That’s where the barangays come in, to maintain and ensure the continuity of the program,” he said.

Initial clearing operations were carried out in Barangay 16, Lopez Jaena, Barangay Bata, and sections on the Circumferential Road. These involved the removal of shanties, makeshift stalls, and a house obstructing a waterway.

This initiative is in line with Executive Order No. 015 issued by Gasataya, which enforces City Ordinance No. 09-17-8140 and grounded on Republic Act No. 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991.

To ensure due process, affected individuals received prior notice and, in some cases, displaced vendors were offered alternative arrangements, such as the option to continue selling through mobile units like tricycles.

Once notified, individuals are given a non-extendible 10-day period to voluntarily vacate, after which demolition may be enforced at the owner’s expense.

The City Legal Enforcement Team, working with the City Engineer’s Office, Bacolod Traffic and Transport Management Department, and local barangays, continues to lead inspections, issue notices, and remove unlawful structures.

The executive order highlights the dangers posed by obstructions such as illegal vendors, makeshift shelters, and unauthorized parked vehicles. These not only hinder mobility and violate public space regulations but also endanger public safety and infringe on the rights of pedestrians.

Oversight of the initiative falls under the City Road Clearing Task Force, chaired by Gasataya, and includes city officials, engineers, legal officers, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The task force is responsible for monitoring compliance and recommending sanctions for barangays that fail to act, which may be considered “neglect of duty” under the law and could lead to administrative penalties.

To address the needs of those displaced by the clearing operations, Gasataya has instructed concerned departments to develop livelihood programs to help them find alternative sources of income.

“We cannot just neglect them,” the mayor said, acknowledging that many of these individuals has few options and took risks to earn a living by selling in public areas.

He stressed the city’s commitment to helping vendors’ transition to legal and sustainable livelihood options without reverting to the use of prohibited spaces.