DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte has ordered the closure of the night market of the city following complaints that the vendors do not follow the rules of the city.
Duterte said that in a meeting with the heads of the night market Human Resource Management office chief, Erwin Alparaque and City Transport and Traffic Management Office chief Rhodelio Poliquit, the latter recommended the closure of the night market and the mayor agreed.
The reasons for the closure are: vendors would not agree with the one family-one stall policy; they want to choose their own stall; the vendors in the night market are dummies of big financiers; the stalls were now rented by different people; and there are people who insist on putting up a stall claiming they have bought it.
“The city will not compromise with them as long as they will not follow the rules of the city,” Duterte said.
She said she was ready for the negative reactions of more than 700 vendors in the market.
Still, Duterte is open for talks with the vendors if they promise to abide by the rules set by the city.
According to Poliquit, the closure will only be until they have decided on how they are going to rearrange the vendors.
“The mayor has the power to close it or temporarily stop it if they will not abide by the law,” he said.
From January to March this year, the city earned P1.75 million from the night market.
The night market revenue also increased from P2.24 million in 2014 to P5.47 million in 2015.