Protective shades for Market vendors sought

10 August 2021 – City officials allowed stall or booth holders, occupants or lessees to install protective shades or covers for their stores, displays and also for their customers in the city public market.

Under Resolution No. 384, series of 2021, signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, city legislators cited that Section 166 of Tax Ordinance No. 2000-001 requires the authority of the local legislative body for any repairs and improvements in stalls at the city public market which shall ipso facto become properties of the city.

The council stated that the immediate installations of the protective shades and covers shall be in accordance with the design of the Baguio City Market Authority (BCMA) and the same shall be coordinated with the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) so that the said covers will be adopted for every particular area for purposes of uniformity, aesthetics and completeness of the intended protection.

The body admitted that stalls or booths that have been allowed to be constructed or operated along alleys and sides of the existing market buildings in the city public market do not have sufficient protection from the sun, rain and other elements that tend to expose the stall or booth holders and their products to the existing dangers in the said areas.

According to the council, many stalls or booth holders, occupants or lessees of the established businesses have expressed willingness to install protective covers or shades for their stalls or booths at their own expense, especially during rainy days, as protection and preservation of their goods and products, as well as the safety and convenience of market-goers and themselves.

The local legislative body stipulated that it has been quite some time that the stall or booth holders, occupants and lessees had been exposed to the elements, thus, the need for the local government to institute the appropriate measures to allow them to conveniently sell their goods and products and ensure the protection of market-goers and themselves from contracting illnesses, especially during the pandemic so as not to compromise their health condition.

The council claimed that stallholders that are situated inside the market buildings enjoy the benefit of being spared from being exposed to the elements that is why it is also important for occupants of spaces outside the buildings to put up their protective shades and covers that will ensure the smooth conduct of their business activities and to be able to entice market-goers to patronize their goods and products being sold in their stalls or booths.

The decision of the council to allow stall or booth holders to install their protective shades and covers was an offshoot of the more than 3 weeks of continuous heavy rains caused by Typhoon Fabian and aggravated by the enhanced southwest monsoon that saw most of the stall or booth holders selling on the sides of buildings to temporarily stop the conduct of their daily selling activities because of the effect of the absence of protective shades and covers on their vending areas.

The council suggested that the stall or booth holders must ensure that the protective shades and covers that will be put in place should be able to withstand the strong winds and heavy rains that may be brought by upcoming weather disturbances, especially that the prevailing weather condition is the rainy season where the need for the installation of the appropriate shades and covers matter for them.

The council urged the responsible stall or booth holders to coordinate with the BCMA and the CBAO on the design that will be followed in the installation of the protective shades and covers of their stalls or booths so that they will be able to install the same and help in increasing their daily sales once the same had already been put in place for the protection of both the sellers and the buyers. – Dexter A. See