1,000 Baclaran vendors allotted space for stalls

Expect traffic to ease up in the Baclaran area with the implementation of a program to ensure orderliness, especially among ambulant vendors.

With the help of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), vendors have been assigned a one-by-two-meter area where they could set up a stall and sell their goods.

The program took effect yesterday with MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino himself monitoring the implementation in the Baclaran area at 10 a.m.

According to MMDA Assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos, the vendors will occupy the former jeepney terminal near the Redemptionist Church on Roxas Boulevard.

No fees were collected from the over 1,000 beneficiaries who had been issued identification cards by the MMDA.

In a radio interview, MMDA General manager Corazon Jimenez said the vendors would be allowed to share their assigned area with others.

Meanwhile, the government agency is also trying to work out a solution to the congestion problem caused by jeepney passengers in the area, particularly in the vicinity of the Baclaran church.

“For a long time, people have been complaining of the heavy traffic caused by the disorderly movement of jeepneys,” Jimenez said. “Soon, they will have their own route and will not be allowed to park or wait for passengers in front of the church,” she added.

On top of this, she said there were plans to put up parking spaces for passenger jeepneys. “Drivers will have their own areas where they could rest, eat or take a nap.”