Vendors in QC market complain of high rent, rundown facilities

Several vendors at Cloverleaf Market in Quezon City held a three-hour protest on Thursday to air their grievances over rundown facilities and high rental cost imposed by the management, according to Oscar Oida's report on "24 Oras."

“Wala nang bumibili sa amin dahil sa dami ng sira ng tindahan ko. Kung anong lakas ng ulan, siyang lakas din ng tulo ng harapan ko… walang aksyon kahit matagal ko nang inirereklamo,” Nancy Capiral, a vendor, lamented.

(No one buys from us anymore because of dilapidated condition of the market. When it rains, the sprinkle of water inside my stall is just as hard… there was no action despite my repeated complaints.)

“Makikita po ninyo wala na pong maintenance ito. Makikita ninyo ang poste bitak-bitak na,” said Jose Miguel Mangunay, president of a vendors’ association in the market.

(You can see that the market has no maintenance. You can also see that several posts have cracks.)

Capiral disclosed that they would pay an additional P200 if they were not able to pay the daily P2,008 stall rental fee.

“Daily po kami P2,008. Eh hindi ko na po kinikita at kapag kami ay hindi nakapag-ticket magmumulta pa po kami ng P200. Ngayon, ang ginagawa ko na lang uutang ako sa bumbay para mabayaran ko ang ticket,” she stated.

(We pay our rent daily for P2,008 but this is hard to earn in a day. If we don’t pay the ticket, we will be fined P200. I just borrowed money so I can pay for the ticket.)

No business permits

Mangunay claimed that the market has no business permits.

The head of QC Market Development Administration, Popoy Lipana, confirmed this to GMA News.

“Cloverleaf market kasi is a family corporation. Ngayon, namatay ‘yung pinaka-ama, so habang pending ‘yung franchise nila, nag-a-application… nagkaroon ng dalawang faction ‘yung dalawang grupo. So, up to now, ‘di nakakapag-apply ng franchise so wala silang business permit,” Lipana explained.

He noted that they could shut down the market but opted not to do so since it was one of the main sources of supplies of other markets around Metro Manila.

“Ang maapektuhan dito, ‘di naman ‘yung palengke lang, thousands na manininda maapektuhan dito,” Lipana said.

(What will be affected here is not just the market, but thousands other vendors.)

Meanwhile, the city government said it is willing to help the market’s management resolve the issue.

GMA News has sought the statement of the Cloverleaf Market management but has yet to reply as of posting time.—Mel Matthew Doctor/LDF, GMA News