Media alarmed by plan to remove Baguio newsstands

BAGUIO CITY — A plan to remove all road obstructions, including newsstands, in the central business district has alarmed a media group here, citing, among other things, the plight of vendors who may lose their business to sell newspapers.

In a joint editorial, Baguio newspapers expressed their objections to the plan, reminding the administration of Mayor Benjamin Magalong that the city has historic ties with journalism.

“You could judge a city by the number of newsstands on its main streets … After Manila, English language newspapers sprouted in Baguio even before it became a chartered city in 1909,” said the editorial.

It will be run this weekend by the weekly newspapers Baguio Midland Courier and Baguio Chronicle; and Sunstar Baguio, the only daily in the city.

But the business licensing office said the city government was compelled to clear the sidewalks of all obstructions as mandated by President Rodrigo Duterte before the Luzon lockdown in March.

CHAIN OF INFORMATION A group of media workers in Baguio is opposing plans to remove newsstands from sidewalks in the city center in line with a road clearing operation ordered by the local government. The newspaper vendors operating the stands were allowed to resume operations only in July, after the easing of community quarantine restrictions. —EV ESPIRITU

Uniform stands

City permits and licensing officer Allan Abayao is meeting on Dec. 15 with newspaper and magazine vendors as well as microentrepreneurs like watch repairmen, to iron out the issues and to work out a suitable location for their businesses.

Before the quarantine, a proposal was presented to put out uniform magazine and newspaper stands that would blend with the row of shops on Session Road, the main street in the central business district.

The local media criticized the plan and asked the city government to refrain from treating newsstands as “eyesores.”

“Newspaper vendors play a big role in the delivery of news and information. [But] like journalists who struggle to make a living, small newsstand owners stay on the streets every day …[earning] commissions from the newspapers they sell,” they said.

“By taking them out, you are actually taking us out as well,” they said, adding that “the opinions and issues raised by these newspapers helped shape the unique nature of our city politics.”

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, through associate publisher Juliet Labog-Javellana, joined the Baguio media in calling on the city government to reconsider its plan and provide the newspaper vendors a safe place to sell where commuters can easily access them.

“Newspaper vendors make their living selling papers, contribute to the local economy, and play a big role in delivering vital information to the people. They are not eyesores. Let’s support our Baguio newspaper vendors in this fight,” Javellana said. —VINCENT CABREZA