The extent to which public markets, where food is on display for the public to utilize towards their health and daily sustenance, are neglected by local official is enough to qualify for “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” There are only a few public markets throughout the country that are kept clean – enough to count on one’s fingers. First and foremost, Marikina City and Dumaguete City should be commended for their efforts in keeping their markets in top shape; but where else?
Within the Visayas region, there’s Carbon Pubic Market in Cebu City, with sanitation standards one could not have imagined a decade ago. What about Iloilo City? La Paz Public Market, Jaro Public Market, Iloilo Central Market, and the Terminal Market (or Super), do they stink?
A group of senior citizens gathered over coffee to discuss this very matter.
A retired teacher from Cebu said they could not imagine why Carbon Pubic Market was so shameful.
An engineer highlighted Iloilo City’s markets, saying, mayors boast about their performance, then feed barangay officials money; naming the past mayoral administrations of Rodolfo Ganzon, Mansueto Malabor, Jerry Treñas, and Jed Patrick Mabilog.
They added, “They boasted about their performances but failed to have sanitary and clean public markets.”
The engineer also pointed out, despite politicians gathering every morning at a popular coffee spot in the La Paz Public Market, none of them ever discuss rehabilitating the market.
“The market stinks,” they noted. “That is where the residents buy their fish, meat, chicken, and vegetables – shame, truly a shame.”
Meanwhile, a priest based in Bacolod City discussed the Burgos Public Market, Libertad Public Market, Sum-ag Public Market, and the city’s Central Market.
“Who, among the leaders of government, [has] ever had the conscience to have a clean public market?” he asked. “We [cannot] comprehend why public markets are never a priority [for] politicians, who enjoy sitting in their well-furnished government offices, not minding the health of their constituents.”
“How many mayors [have served] Bacolod?” the priest continued. “Alfredo Montelibano, Jr., Evelio Leonardia, Luzviminda Valdez, then Leonardia again, [yet] the public markets remain dirty as ever to this day.”
“They think of the Bacolod Public Plaza, re-concreting roads, even putting up a museum or coliseum or whatever, but who has [thought] of putting hygiene into the public markets?” he questioned.
The priest concluded, “It’s election fever again and seated politicians think of projects that could serve them [well], but no one ever thought of a decent public market.”
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This column greets Ray and Sandra Gomez, Nico Velasquez, Cleofe Albiso, Maui dela Cruz, Cyril Ticao, Noel Jimenez, 2016 Negros Occidental vice gubernatorial candidate Jeffrey Ferrer, Francis Velez, Renato Novero of the Land Transportation Office-Region VI Law Enforcement Service, Negros Occidental Scholarship Program head Karen Dinsay, Susan Guara, Rey Bala-an, Richard Oquendo, Jun Lagarde, Rey Tabafunda, and Jerry Sy./WDJ