Cebu Daily News / News

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Byron shoos vendors from bus terminal By Marian Z. Codilla, Doris C. Bongcac Cebu Daily News Posted date: October 16, 2008 AT LEAST 37 South Bus terminal vendors went to Cebu City Hall yesterday morning to seek help from officials, claiming they were harassed by Capitol security consultant Byron Garcia. The vendors, who were unable to talk to Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama since he was late, said they may file a complaint against Garcia before the Ombudsman-Visayas. “Giharas mi sa taga probinsya bisan wala na mi sa ilang luna (We were harassed by those from the province even if we are not occupying their area),” their letter to city officials read. Garcia, in a separate interview, said there was nothing wrong in asking vendors to vacate the sidewalk outside of the South Bus Terminal. He said the vendors, most of whom sell food and beverage on pushcarts, already occupied the designated area for public utility vehicles (PUVs), forcing the drivers to load and unload passenger in front of the terminal entrance. Garcia said the presence of sidewalk vendors in the area has become a perennial problem that resulted to congestion of N. Bacalso Ave., a national road. “As a deputized agent of the LTO which is a national office, I can do something about heavy traffic,” he said. But he said he he never hurt anyone nor confiscated the items sold by the vendors when he asked the sidewalk vendors to move out last Tuesday morning. As Capitol consultant on security, Garcia inspects the terminal premises and helps oversee its operation. He said he and some terminal security personnel spotted heavy congestion at the south bus terminal entrance caused by the vendors at about 6 a.m last Tuesday. Garcia said he merely told the vendors to get their goods out of the area before he would confiscate and bring these to the Cebu City Squatters Prevention Encroachment and Elimination Division (Speed) office. “I was not using force. I was just doing the job of Speed. What's the problem with that,” he said. When the vendors left, he had a province-owned dump truck stay in the area ready to be loaded with goods to be confiscated from resistant vendors. Traffic was then smooth along the portion of N. Bacalso Ave. located near the south bus terminal, he added. Garcia said he has noticed that the vendors were playing cat and mouse game with the Speed personnel. He said it would be up to the Cebu City government to deal with the vendors's continued occupancy of the N. Bacalso's sidewalk.