THE ANCILLARY Services Unit (ASU) has coordinated with the Davao City Police Office and the Task Force Davao for a special clearing operation at Bankerohan Public Market.
Paul Bermejo, ASU chief announced on Thursday during the iSpeak forum, that the special operation differs from their regular road-clearing activities to decongest the streets surrounding the city’s biggest public market.
Accordingly, the relocated vendors have returned to encroach the streets around the public market despite the designated areas set aside for them in July.
“During the special clearing operation, we will request our DCPO for assistance to apprehend violators, as we cannot control them anymore,” Bermejo said.
He reported there is a need to request DCPO and Task Force Davao since the ASU demolition team has been threatened by some vendors and the operation could turn violent.
While the demolition team is making rounds daily and confiscating the items of the street vendors, some have resisted and threatened to hurl rocks at the ASU workers.
The vendors also developed a system where the first to spot the demolition team would immediately alert others, so they could cart their goods away to avoid seizure. They would then return when the government workers are out of sight.
Bermejo said they already employed “maximum tolerance” even up to the third offense when the vendors could still claim the confiscated items. However, they had to sign an affidavit of undertaking, promising not to return to the streets again.
Meanwhile, vendors complained about the unregulated peddlers and hawkers who take customers and eat away at their income since marketgoers tend to buy from them rather than go inside the public market.
For his part, Bermejo said they are working on regulating the hawkers and peddlers through a joint resolution by the ASU, CTTMO, and the City Economic Enterprise.
Presently, vendors are allowed to sell on the streets from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. temporarily provided they clear the roads past the designated times.
