Illegal Jaro plaza vendors: Are you talking to us?

“Uncertainty is a very good thing: it's the beginning of an investigation, and the investigation should never end.”  Tim Crouch

By Alex P. Vidal

THE task of clearing the sidewalks of Jaro district plaza of illegal or ambulant vendors falls on the office of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, not with the city council.

Instead of bellyaching, city councilors should leave the matter to the city mayor’s office.

The city mayor’s office implements ordinances. 

The city council enacts them.

The city council can’t usurp the powers of the executive office, vice versa.

Councilor Joshua Alim said they will investigate reports that illegal vendors were allowed to erect stalls on the sidewalks of the plaza during the Jaro Agro-Industrial Fair after paying certain fees, which, he said, was illegal.

Only registered stalls inside the plaza were allowed and authorized to pay rental fees, etcetera.

The city councilors, receiving complaints from legitimate stall owners inside the plaza, wanted to know who's behind the racket.

Three council committees will spearhead the investigation after the February 2 district feast of Jaro's Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, Alim said.

COMMITTEES

These committees are: tourism, culture and historical affairs headed by Councilor Nielex Tupas; good governance headed by Councilor Jason Gonzales; and barangay affairs and community development headed by Councilor Carlos Guarin.

What for?

Any step made by city hall authorities after the event would be moot and academic.

The “crime” has been consummated.

Illegal vendors won’t give a damn about any council investigation to be held after they have served their purposes.

They can even snub it.

When city hall first heard that illegal vendors were being allowed on the sidewalks of Jaro plaza in exchange of unauthorized fees in January, Mabilog should have ordered a team to drive them away.

The demolition should have commenced before the Jaro fiesta or the start of the agro-industrial fair.

If stalls of ambulant vendors are demolished by city hall only after the fiesta or the holding of the agro-industrial fair, city officials will look stupid.

‘THANK YOU’

Illegal stall owners will loudly tell city hall: “thank you for the free services.”

But the city mayor’s office has been mum over the furor.

It was only the city council that made a lot of noise, threatening to hold a committee investigation to determine who’s at fault.

The vendors were reportedly allowed on the sidewalks after paying P200 to the Special Services Unit of the city government for P200.

They vendors also paid P30 per light bulb to a light contractor. An organization also charged them as much as P4,000 to P5,000 per stall without any receipt.

Based on these tips, city hall should have started clamping down on these illegal vendors and the illegal transactions involving some organizers as early as last month.

The issue here is corruption. 

Somebody made money out of the presence of these eyesores within the belt line of the plaza.

While nobody from the city mayor's office is aggressive enough to identify and punish the scoundrels, some city councilors consider the issue an urgent matter.

Thus they will investigate after the smoke has disappeared.

In Tagalog, they have this popular aphorism: "Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo." (The grass is useless if the horse is dead.)

Pope Francis, please drop by Iloilo

“I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother. I consider it my duty to be with my compatriots in this sublime and difficult moment.” Pope John Paul II

By Alex P. Vidal

THERE are good reasons for Pope Francis to drop by Iloilo when he visits the Philippines from January 15 to 19.

Iloilo is considered as a religious hotbed outside Metro Manila.

Some of the oldest churches and religious relics in Asia are found in Iloilo.

He will repeat history by being the second pope to visit the “City of Love” since St. Peter became the first pope more than 2,000 years ago.

Thirty four years ago, Ilonggos did not have to go to Rome to see Pope John Paul II, who came here on February 21,1981.

As a teenager, I elbowed my way to Jaro district where the entourage, that included the late Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, proceeded.

The Pope, riding on the bullet proofed “Pope Mobile”, passed by the Gen. Luna St. (I stood and waved at the Pope’s entourage outside the University of San Agustin) from Molo to the City Proper and La Paz districts.

He was greeted by thousands of Ilonggos carrying streamers proclaiming the papal motto “Totus Tuus” (All Yours).

Along the way, the Pontiff, a vocal advocate for human rights who used his influence to effect political change, blessed people in the sidewalks and roads praying and waving the white-yellow papal flags and lighting candles.

CRY

Many Ilonggos cried when they saw the Pope for the first time.

They remembered him making history by becoming the first non-Italian pope in more than four hundred years in 1978.

A big crowd that overflowed to the Jaro public plaza prevented me from entering the gate of the Jaro Cathedral. 

I stood outside the main gate and joined thousands of Ilonggo faithful who attended the mass conducted by the late Polish Pontiff, who crowned the image of Nuestra Señora dela Candelaria.

Pope John Paul II led thousands of Ilonggo faithful in singing religious songs.

The Pope’s message at the Jaro Cathedral was: “I have come to Iloilo City to tell you of my love in Jesus Christ.”

It was the greatest day for all Catholics.

Ilonggo faithful are once against excited to see Pope Francis, who told young Asians in South Korea in August 2014: “The Asian continent, imbued with rich philosophical and religious traditions, remains a great frontier for your testimony to Christ, 'the way, and the truth, and the life.'”

But, as of this writing, there were no changes in his schedule which is all in Manila.

The Cebuanos also were trying to convince Pope Francis to visit Cebu.

LAND

When the Pope landed at the old airport in Mandurriao aboard papal plane Il Papa in the afternoon, he was welcomed by the church leaders  of Panay Island led by Archbishop Artemio Casas of Jaro, Archbishop Antonio Frondosa of Capiz, Bishop Juan Nilmar of Aklan, Bishop Cornelius de Wit of Antique and Bishop Alberto Piamonte of Jaro.

Church bells all over the metropolis pealed and the faithful started to pray the Holy Rosary through the radio as the Pontiff stepped out of the plane and kissed Iloilo soil.

On April 21, 1982, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Nuestra Señora dela Candelaria the Patroness of Western Visayas in his Quod urbis.

He died on April 2, 2005 in Apostolic Palace, Vatican City and buried at St. Peter's Basilica, Rome on April 8, 2005.

Pope Francis, please visit us also in Iloilo.