Bacolod City and Iloilo City residents are asking themselves why their local governments do not care about the cleanliness of public markets. The topic has been the subject of several past columns and, recently, a group gathered for coffee on Independence Day to discuss this very issue.
An engineer said he could not fathom why local politicians never care when it comes to setting up a budget to renovate or construct sanitary markets. They used public markets in Marikina City and Dumaguete City as examples of “decent and sanitized public markets.” Incidentally, in four previous “WatchMe” columns, I referenced the same markets. Last October, in a column entitled “Why are public markets neglected?” I wrote, “Marikina City and Dumaguete City should be commended for their efforts in keeping their markets in top shape.”
“The public market is a simple structure and does not cost so many millions but local officials never give it a priority,” a golfer added.
“Can you imagine that the public market is where one buys the pork, chicken, vegetables, [and] crops that one eats every day, yet the market could be the dirtiest among all places in the community,” a nurse pointed out. In a column I penned last February, “Why public markets are dirty,” I opened my commentary by noting, “Many are not aware that the food they eat every day are purchased from public markets, which are some of the dirtiest places.”
“The floors of the market [have] never been cleaned maybe for thirty years or more,” the golfer speculated. Incidentally, in the same column from last February, I suggested, “Visit a public market and look where the meat is being sold, check if the floor is clean, then ask yourself when was the last time a firetruck sprayed down the area.”
Among the markets the group harped upon included Burgos Public Market, Bacolod Central Market, and Libertad Public Market in Bacolod City; along with Lapaz Public Market, Iloilo Central Market, and Iloilo Terminal Market in Iloilo City.
The golfer then brought up Dumaguete City.
“Why [do] they have clean toilets in the public market as well?” they asked. “We hope the new or re-elected politicians could think about this or [do] the politicians [intentionally] do this ‘stinky strategy’ for a purpose?” In a column I wrote in June 2018 called “Dumaguete City, so clean,” I pointed out, “The toilets in the market have been clean over the past few decades – that is how orderly Dumaguete City is.”
“We hope the comebacking [sic] mayors of Iloilo City and Bacolod City will have [the] rebuilding of public markets as their priority as part of the health care program of the president,” the nurse added. “[The] same with other markets in other towns.”
“There is no reason for them to reason [why] they have no budget because building a market is just like putting up a new bridge—even cheaper if there is no pocketing of people’s money,” the engineer added.

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Today, there is a surplus of mango, which is forcing farmers to dispose of their crops at a cheaper rate—some are even giving it out for free! That is a good move.

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This column greets Natalie Lim, Cleofe Albiso, Mae Panes, Lorna Longno, Francis Velez, Karen Dinsay, Jenny Cordero, Kitty Gonzalez, Ann Colmenares-Ong, Richard Oquendo, Mako Javellana, Raymund Javellana, and Warren Concepcion/WDJ