As Metro Manila’s first entry point from the airport, the Roxas Boulevard section of Baclaran in Parañaque City should be cleared of all kinds of ambulant vendors. These illegal vendors are not only back with a vengeance, they’re also occupying the southbound lane of the boulevard near the former seawall. They are practically competing for limited space in the loading/unloading zone of public vehicles thus adding to the already choked traffic condition of the area.
To make matter worse, some slum dwellers in makeshift tents are encroaching on an area near the footbridge in front of business establishments, in the northbound section of the boulevard.
A relocation site, as not to displace these vendors, is badly needed to put an end to these temporary problems that need permanent solutions.
Calling the attention of Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino and Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. to immediately address these twin problems of vending and squatting in Baclaran.
—PEDRO REFUERZO JR.,
jn_refuerzo@yahoo.com