Manila gov’t to push for ‘zero street vendor’ this year

Fish ball, banana-q, samalamig (cold beverage), and other cheap edibles peddled on the streets of Manila would become things of the past if the government would be able to fully implement its “zero street vendor" campaign this year. On Wednesday, Mayor Alfredo Lim met more than 11,000 employees of the Manila City Hall and told them to implement the campaign that would start at the city's seaside or Baywalk along Roxas Boulevard. “This is just the start. We will clean up Manila of vendors and street people," said Lim, who, with members of the Iglesia ni Cristo, on Wednesday cleaned up the boulevard of all obstructions. Lim said the Quiapo district would be the next to be “cleaned up" of vendors. Quiapo, also known as Manila’s “old downtown" is known for cheap herbal medicine, jewelry, electronic items, and handicrafts that are sold on streets. Also, the mayor said vendors from Claro M. Recto Avenue and the streets of Divisoria would be transferred to a huge and idle backstreet called Comercio. Lim said street hawkers from Quiapo and Sta. Cruz would also be moved to Muelle de la Industria from Del Pan Extension. “The merchants who have the regular stalls were just too happy to get their customers back. Yong mga vendors balita ko naghahanap ng padrino para pakiusapan ako na huwag daw ituloy ‘yong plano (I received reports that the vendors were looking for backers to convince me not to push through with the campaign)," he said. . But Lim said the government was moving out the vendors for their own benefit. “Sila naman ang makikinabang dito in the long run, kasi maalis na’ yong kultura ng tong na sila ang kinokolektahan. Yang zero vendor na plano natin, zero tong collection din ang ibig sabihin. Buong-buo na nilang maiuuwi ang kita nila, hindi na mababawasan ng tong (The vendors will benefit from this in the long run because they will no longer deal with tong collectors. This means they can fully take home their income because they will no longer be victimized by extortionists), he said. - GMANews.TV