Councilor Philian Weygan-Allan has organized a series of alternative livelihood training sessions for the 145 displaced ambulant vendors in an effort to encourage them to explore other sources of income.
Earlier, the City Government halted the issuance of special business permits to roving vendors as agreed upon by the vendors themselves, Mayor Benjamin Magalong, and the Committee on Market Trade and Commerce, and Agriculture of the Sangguniang Panlungsod during the public consultation held in 2019.
Weygan-Allan, Chairperson of the committee, observed an escalation in the number of vendors peddling in different parts of the city. The committee and the chief executive both agreed to discontinue the issuance of special permits to ambulant vendors in order to curb their increasing number. Of the approximately 600 vendors in the city, 145 have no special permits.
In a bid to mitigate the displacement, the committee partnered with different line agencies and offices for the conduct of a livelihood training program for the 145 roving vendors.
“The vendors with special permits still peddle in the streets. As for the 145 displaced vendors, we need to provide them alternatives,” Weygan-Allan stated.
The committee conceptualized the livelihood training program which was adopted into a city resolution passed by the city council and approved by the chief executive.
“The livelihood program’s approach is to identify programs based on the priorities and goals defined by vendors themselves and to support their own livelihood strategies,” the resolution read.
The resolution further stressed that the program meant to help the vendors become “more vulnerable to the impact of disasters.”
Since September 2019, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been orienting the vendors on business management topics such as Entrepreneurial Mindset, Product Pricing and Labeling, E-marketing, and The Consumer Act of the Philippines (R.A. No. 7394), among others. The vendors were also given seminars on how to start a business.
As advised, the vendors formed workers’ associations which were then registered with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 442 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended.
The office of Congressman Marquez Go and the City Veterinary Office (CVO) were tapped to provide skills trainings to the displaced vendors. Trainers from Congressman Go’s Livelihood Training Program offered trainings on commercial cooking and baking while the CVO focused on urban container gardening and organic gardening.
“We noticed that some vendors who signed up for the program started marketing their products like kimchi, puto pao, and peanut butter on social media,” the office of Councilor Weygan-Allan reported.
The program’s closing ceremony will be in March 2020 after the conduct of the last set of training which will focus on leadership. ** Jordan G. Habbiling
