The Carbon Bagsakan now houses the first 38 ambulant market vendors who were awarded their certificates as part of the first phase of the Carbon Public Market modernization.
Last Monday, October 4, 26 LAVO Seaside vendors were transferred to the Carbon Bagsakan. On Friday, October 8, 12 from GP Multipurpose Vendors Association followed. Their move into the temporary space was voluntary. The GP Multipurpose Vendors Association picked the date of transfer because of the auspicious date.
Cirila Odiong, 42, who has been selling for four years under the LAVO Seaside vendors association, said they are no longer troubled by mud whenever it rains. She said they have cleaner spaces for their vegetable products and people have a better view.
Odiong said she felt relieved that their earnings have so far stayed about the same in their new Carbon Bagsakan stalls.
Earlier this week when it was raining, vendors said their sales were still up because customers went to their stalls at the Carbon Bagsakan instead of the areas where it was muddy and water was dripping from the old, dilapidated roof.
While she admitted being initially apprehensive about an increase in rates, Odiong said they were informed that the arkabala will remain the same in the next three years. Any increase will undergo due process through the Cebu City Government. The arkabala is the current rental collection system for ambulant vendors at the Carbon public market.
She said that what helped her understand details of the project was the fact that complaints, questions, and concerns can be brought up with their LAVO Seaside chairman Pastor Zosimo Potot. To address these matters, their officers coordinate with the Cebu City Market Operations Division (MOD) during vendor consultations.
Cirilo Silba, 55, of GP Multipurpose Vendors Association echoed Odiong’s sentiments in a separate interview. Silba noted that in his 20 years of selling at the market, vendors have experienced several displacements. These had affected their day-to-day vending activities. He said that while it would take some time for their “suki” to find them again, their customers eventually do after the transition.
For Silba, little has changed in the Carbon public market through the decades. He said that it is only now, with the ongoing development, that things are moving forward. He likened Carbon’s progress to the way people also grow in their lives and learn to adapt to the times.
(For questions and clarifications, please contact Marketing and Communications Manager Joanna Fajardo-Salazar at 0917 322 5688 or send her an email at jasalazar@cebu2world.com.ph)
