‘No space for us’: Iloilo vendors decry privatization, SM’s takeover of terminal market

Days before the renovated Iloilo Terminal Market’s, commonly called as “Super,” opening on Oct. 30, vendors expressed dismay over the public-private partnership (PPP) of the city government and SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) due to unguaranteed market spaces and added financial strain.

On Oct. 28, market vendors, along with Panay Consumers Alliance (PCA), Gabriela Panay and Guimaras, and Kabataan Partylist, staged a picket protest in front of the terminal market and held a press conference over the displacement of vendors with the project’s implementation.

SM occupies a greater 60% (9,000 sqm) of the newly renovated building, while vendors are left with 40% and 400 “temporary” stalls for 1,625 vendors.

Market vendor Nelly Vigo expressed her worries in an interview with The Daily Guardian about not being given space in the redeveloped facility.

“The biggest problem is that we no longer have space for our goods…We don’t know what will happen once the new market opens,” she said.

Anakbayan Panay Island released a statement emphasizing that this implementation is not “development” but a “blatant surrender of public space and people’s livelihood to big corporations like SM.”

“Behind the facade of progress lies the reality of displacement, dispossession, and privatization. Hundreds of vendors, who have long served the Ilonggo public, are now being driven away from their stalls,” Anakbayan stated.

In an event consultation with market vendors, stall owners were asked to pay a “goodwill” fee ranging from P5,000 to P10,000, depending on the location and size of the stall which were randomly assigned by the management.

Vigo shared that paying a daily arkabala fee of P100 is already an overwhelming financial strain on her daily profit.

“We already struggle to pay every day just to feed our families. What will happen to us if we lose our place entirely?” she expressed.

Mayor Raisa Treñas on Oct. 17 assured there will be no rental increase, with rentals ranging from P300 to P3,000 per month depending on stall size and location, and imposed a two-year moratorium on rental hikes to give time for profit decline during temporary closure.

“All vendors with previously legal stalls will retain their spaces. We are ensuring a fair and transparent stall adjudication process through the Market Committee and the Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO),” Treñas said.

Anakbayan stated that this assurance remains uncertain to vendors and is still unclear if this applies to rent or daily fees while making them comply with numerous requirements.

“When SM arrived, why weren’t we included?” Vigo added. “From the very beginning, we were the ones sustaining the market. SM may have the money, but we are the ones who keep the community alive.”

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Atty. Renee Co expressed support for the vendors, citing a 2014 bill by Bayan Muna and a recent resolution in the 19th Congress that seeks to investigate public-private partnerships in public markets.

“Redeveloping a public market without safeguarding the rights of vendors does not only strip Ilonggos of their livelihood – it erases our culture and identity,” Co said.

The city government signed a 25-year lease agreement with SMPH in August 2022 for the P3 billion redevelopment and modernization of the Iloilo Terminal and Central Markets.