The Bacolod City government is organizing an enforcement team to ensure that food sold by ambulant vendors are safe for the public.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez made the announcement Friday, November 18, after a video of fried chicken purchased outside the Libertad Public Market that was found to have worms in it went viral.
Benitez said he admits that there have been lapses in the sanitation inspection of meat products, food, restaurants and ambulant vendors in the city.
He is directing the City Legal Office to create an enforcement team to address this, Benitez said.
The city government has also been monitoring water refilling stations and will not allow those that are non-compliant to operate, Benitez stressed.
The mayor said he has asked Councilor Celia Flor, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Markets and Slaughterhouse, to quickly see to the passage of an ordinance that will regulate all ambulant and street vendors.
Ambulant and street vendors must be registered since they are selling food that are consumed by the general public, and must comply with city government requirements, Benitez said.
He is also asking that the ordinance include provisions on when and where the ambulant vendors can sell their goods so they do not become road obstructions.
There has to be some commensurate penalty to ensure compliance, he added.
Benitez said the city government will also enforce the directive of the Department of the Interior and Local Government on clearing of road obstructions.
“We realize that there will be certain livelihoods that will be affected so we will make sure that we will find a win-win solution for them,” he added.