By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA

At least 40 individuals who are occupying the Libertad Public Market Annex Building as their temporary shelter were evicted by the Bacolod City Legal Office’s (CLO) enforcement team yesterday.

CLO enforcement team leader Levy Pangue said most of the evicted individuals were not vendors at the public market.

The occupants had taken over the cubicles constructed by the city for market vendors.

Pangue said the clearing operation was conducted to improve the condition of the building.

The CLO team removed uncollected waste and personal belongings from the evictees, including mendicants.

Pangue added that the area emitted a strong foul odor.

In 2019, the city government rehabilitated and repaired the annex building to accommodate vendors displaced by road clearing operations at Libertad Public Market.

However, most of the affected vendors refused to occupy their stalls in the annex building due to concerns about poor foot traffic, which they said resulted in lower daily incomes.

Pangue said they will temporarily close the building, and they will wait for the decision of the City Administrator’s Office on the infrastructure’s status./MAP, WDJ