CHANGE OF HEART?: Council asked to reconsider PPP to solve market woes

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

THREE years ago, the Iloilo City government under former Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog set in motion plans to enter into partnerships with private firms in rehabilitating and managing the derelict public markets.

But the plan was met with opposition with some allies of the Mabilog and market vendors who feared losing their stalls and spots to a mall chain that offered to rehabilitate the Central Market.

The stiff opposition prompted Mabilog to shelve the plan in the meantime.

But there is a chance that the Public-Private Partnership mode in operating public markets would be revived under the administration of Mayor Jose Espinosa III.

Councilor Plaridel Nava encouraged his colleagues to reconsider Mabilog’s PPP proposal to help solve the perennial problems besetting public markets.

Nava said they have filed many ordinances aimed at solving the problems but to no avail.

“The problem of our public markets is like a disease that is difficult to cure. We don’t have money, we cannot generate funds, we cannot ask people to be more realistic and vigilant, and we cannot do it overnight. During the time of Mabilog, we have already conceptualized a solution for the problem which is a public-private partnership,” said Nava.

In 2015, Mabilog proposed to partner with investors in implementing big-ticket projects under the PPP scheme. One of the projects he pushed is the redevelopment of public markets.

In the same year, the Iloilo Central Market was subjected to a joint venture revitalization project with the SM group. Under its development plan, the existing public market will be demolished and converted into a four-story complex.

But some stakeholders saw the project as a form of “privatization,” sparking rallies and confrontations between pro- and anti-PPP parties.

Some Central Market vendors even signed petitions opposing the project even as they engaged the city government in dialogues.

“At that time, it was already conceived the partnership with SM but damo gareklamo nga vendors, because what is paramount to them is ang personal interest that is why it was turned down,” Nava said.

Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo agreed with the proposal saying the private firm could have financed the project, saving the City Hall precious resources. But it did not happen because of the uncooperative and antagonistic leadership at the Central Market.

In his privilege speech during their session on Tuesday, Councilor Armand Parcon expounded on the sorry state of public markets in the city.

“Our public markets are neglected. They have ramshackle facilities, faulty drainage, and delayed collection of garbage. In Central Market, for example, the drainages are not functioning, it is unsanitary, and there are even damaged cubicles,” Parcon said.

Parcon said the city faces budgetary constraints and proposed that the PPP mode deserve a deeper and closer look.

Parcon also filed a resolution calling for an inquiry in aid of legislation on the sorry state of the public markets and the slaughterhouse which the council approved.