Quiapo underpass vendors have until Feast of the Nazarene to clear out

Vendors under the Lacson underpass in Quiapo now have until the Feast of the Nazarene to sell their wares before the area closes for renovation, a report on GMA News' “24 Oras” said Tuesday.

Monday night saw these vendors angrily destroying stalls constructed by officials supposedly from the Manila City Hall, although the area was back to business as usual come Tuesday.

The stalls were supposedly part of the renovation plan by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, who wants informal vendors to sell their wares in a more orderly fashion.

The“24 Oras” said several vendors expressed anger at the P500 daily fee they need to pay the city hall to keep their stall.

This is a far cry from the P7,000 monthly fee that vendor Erlinda Quiroz pays to the city hall to sell trinkets, a trade which she has done for 10 years.

“Ang bilis kasi. Pinapaalis na kami agad, 'di kami kinausap,” said Quiroz in the report.

Ambaduran Ali Dumara, another vendor, complained of Estrada's new initiative, despite him having a pro-poor platform.

Estrada explained in the “24 Oras” report that the changes comes from the privatization of the underpass, which he said would allow the local government and the vendors greater profit.

“We need more revenue. 'Pag naayos 'yan gaganda, lilinis, mas malaki kita nila. The vendors have nothing to worry about. Erap para sa mahirap, hindi nagpapahirap. Ayoko sila mawalan ng trabaho,” said Estrada, a former Philippine president.

Estrada also said he extended the deadline for the vendors to sell their ways from Dec. 31, 2013 to Jan. 10, 2014 so that they can still take advantage of the Feast of Black Nazarene on Jan. 9.

The winning bidder for the overpass will receive a 25-year lease contract, though the name of the company has yet to be announced. Because of this, the identity of the supposed city hall officials, who was partially the reason why the underpass vendors became agitated, were unknown.

Police said these officials were from the city hall. Though they presented no identification, they still had the vendors listed down for malicious mischief. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News