Local finance committee assesses Sunday showcase at Session Road
Budget Officer Leticia Clemente reported on the city’s Session Road Sunday Showcase during the management committee meeting of local officials led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Sept. 20, at City Hall that serves as a test case for the pedestrianization of the Summer Capital’s main thoroughfare.
She said the weekly event aims to intensify promotions and marketing of medium, small and micro enterprises’ (MSMEs’) products to the domestic market; provide a venue for MSMEs to sell their products and improve market linkages; and promote the results of MSMEs product development.
Increase consumers’ awareness on products compliant to quality and safety standards; help MSMEs directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to bounce back and recover, especially those who do not have an avenue to sell their products; enliven culture, arts and crafts through the conduct of various culture and arts related activities, are the showcase’s other objectives.
Activities at Session Road every Sunday include product showcase and selling, art and performance activities, socio-civic activities, and information and education campaign booths by different government line agencies, Clemente disclosed.
She gave a short history of the Sunday showcase that started in July 2019 with a proposal by the Mayor’s office for the closure of one lane of Session Road as an experimental plan for its pedestrianization.
Several legal bases were also cited including the Local Government Code of 1991 that provides for the instances when roads and other types of passageways may be closed, either permanently or temporarily.
From December 2020 to September 2022, Clemente said the Sunday showcase has been conducted for 66 Sundays, accommodated 4,146 stalls and recorded a total of P49,220,486.75 in gross sales with total collections from special permits fees amounting to P1,991,376 for the 66 Sundays.
She said issues that cropped up include the use of multiple trade/association names; imported and counterfeit products; some products are similar to those at the city market; concept of al fresco is not being followed; individuals registered in the application form are not the same as those actually manning the booth during the activity proper; among others.
Her report recommends the following: Use of online registration system to avoid long queues; only locally produced projects, specifically from the BLISTT (Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay) area are to be displayed and sold; rationalization of fees; Session Road concessionaires to pay for the use of sidewalk and extension of their area.
Limit the number of buskers per Sunday to only 50; assess the impact of pedestrianization to traffic, exhibitors, visitors and local residents; set guidelines to be followed by all exhibitors and to be used as basis for the imposition of sanctions, are the other recommendations.
Clemente said she gave the presentation in order to solicit more recommendations from other officials for the Sunday Showcase’s improvement and whether or not it should be temporary or made permanent. – Gaby B. Keith
