ILOILO CITY – Groups and individuals condemned the Iloilo City government under neophyte Mayor Raisa Treñas for violently displacing bolanteros (ambulant and informal vendors) on Friday night, April 10.

“The city government is playing victim even though it is the institution that has been wielding violence against the economic rights of ambulant vendors,” said the Panay Consumers Alliance (PCA) on Saturday, April 11.

Police assisted the Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) in the clearing operations which escalated when vendors fought back as LEEO personnel confiscated their goods.

The Treñas administration allowed one day per week to sell but bolanteros are appealing to sell on a daily basis. This is pressing, they said, especially with the economic crisis caused by the Middle East conflict.

“Their attempt to sell their produce or goods amid threats of confiscation is already a very clear indication that the one-day ‘market day’ being packaged as solution to ambulant vendors’ plight is not the solution that works for them,” added PCA.

Bolanteros co-existed in selling fruits and vegetables on a daily basis outside the Iloilo Terminal Market owned by the city government since time immemorial.

But since SM Prime redeveloped the public market and opened it last December, bolanteros were displaced from their usual spots to protect vendors renting stalls inside the public market while SM has its own grocery store.

Bolanteros have been asking for a dialogue with the mayor but she has yet to do so and only assigned LEEO head Maricel Mabaquiao to speak on her behalf.

With videos of the city government’s clearing operations going viral, many Ilonggos expressed sadness and frustration on how the Treñas administration treated bolanteros.

Some dubbed it as an “anti-poor” government policy while others expressed that the Treñas administration lacked empathy not only for the bolanteros but also Ilonggo consumers who are feeling the brunt of the economic crisis due to rising fuel costs. Fruits and vegetables sold by bolanteros are usually much cheaper.

The Treñas administration announced a solution for bolanteros. They can sell daily but not daily at the Iloilo Terminal Market.

The schedule for bolanteros would rotate and they are only allowed at the designated market of the day scattered in different areas of Iloilo City.