By Mae Singuay

The Bacolod City Legal Office (CLO) denied the allegations that they cooked the fish confiscated from vendors during their operations at the Libertad Market.

CLO’s City Enforcement Team (CET) head Rey Demisana denied the allegations, after a video circulated on social media showed a CET member frying the fish confiscated from the vendors.

Demisana claimed the fish were not seized, as they were bigger than the confiscated ones.

He said none of them tried to cook the fish because they may face consequences, including termination from the service.

The CET is strictly implementing City Ordinance 1009, which prohibits vending outside the market.

A corresponding fine of P300, P500 and P1,000 for the first, second and third offense, respectively, will be imposed on the violators.

Demisana said the products confiscated during the operation will be retrieved from the Local Market Committee after the payment of corresponding fines.

However, he said for perishable items, such as fish, there are only limited hours to stay in the storage area.

If a vendor fails to retrieve the products in the given period of time, this will be donated by the city government to charitable institutions.

Meanwhile, Councilor Celia Flor, Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on market chair, said she will ask the CLO for guidelines on how they will implement the ordinance.

Flor suggested that the apprehending team would be issuing tickets to the violators, which would serve as the basis for retrieving their confiscated products./MS, WDJ