By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
The way the market is, farmers from the suburbs with their hand carried small bags of produce can directly talk with the stall holders who can sell what they are carrying. Once an agreement is reached the produce are immediately displayed on the stalls, no sweat, no fuss. These can be inexpensive small bundles of parsley, basil, celery or shiitake. Thus, you can buy P50 or a P100 worth of these. At the end of the day the producer can go back to collect the payment. Replicate such transaction and you see how thousands of families are decently sustained and their kids are sent to college.
Will it be the same if the market becomes a mall? A big fat NO! Small producers and traders will be marginalized if not looked down on. There will be mall standards to satisfy, from the looks of what you want sell to the quality and the volume that is acceptable. And there will be a labyrinth of commercial bureaucracy to be hurdled. Worst of all, it might take forever for small suppliers like you and me before you can get paid.
I was once a trader of some food products in Metro Manila and the big supermarts would promise to pay after a month or two. Then your collector would go back 10 or 20 times before he would be able to collect. In short, the big supermarts would roll or use the value of your products — your money or your capital– several times over before they would pay you.
Do we small business people in Baguio have the capital for that? NO WAY! But that is what will happen.
Will our city officials force us into such a situation? Well, we know how politicians are. We will know who among them are the good, the bad and the ugly.
And the net result of the mallification of the market will be the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. Whoever has the biggest investment will gain the most.
While we the small people of the city will not gain much. Instead, we will bear the brunt of the ugliness that will result from a monster of a building lording it over the heart of the city.
Ever since talk of that market development started, my position was the best vision of it was something like Ayala Alabang when it was beginning. It was composed of small single-storey commercial structures nicely grouped together. No congestion, nothing disproportionate.
For me, it would be the best if the market is developed like a park with small structures where the stalls would be, surrounded by ornamental flowers. Where going to the market would always be a refreshing stroll.**
