Tacloban keeping an eye on ‘migrant’ vendors

A typhoon survivor stands on rubbish in Tacloban, central Philippines on Dec. 8, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The local government of Tacloban is looking into so-called migrant vendors who have flocked into the city supposedly to exploit the high inflation rate here.

City administrator John Tecson Lim said they will investigate those who are taking advantage of the plight of typhoon survivors.

“(Ang paniwala kasi nila) mas may pera na po dito at mas gugustuhin po nilang magbenta dito dahil napakataas po ng presyo (ng mga produkto) doon sa aming mga vendors,” Lim said in a report from the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

(“They believe the people here have money and they want to sell because the prices are really high.”)

He said they have observed vendors who they believe came all the way from Mindanao and Luzon.

“A little bit of survey would reveal that they don’t know how to speak the local dialect here and talaga pong pumunta po sila ay nag-set up na lang po dito (and they just went and set-up their stalls here), given the fact that we are still in the process, together with the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), of stabilizing the prices,” he said.

He said the newcomers have become a detriment, not only to the consumers, but also to the local businesses who are still trying to recover their losses from the typhoon.

Lim admitted that they have ruled out regulating the prices because they did not wish to “choke” the businesses. He also said they have to deal with the Bureau of Internal Revenue that has sent assessment notices to the local businessmen.

He said they will have to come up with a set of “indicators” to determine where they are in the “normalization phase.”

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