I bought a purple-colored broom or walis tambo at the Baguio City Public Market in solidarity with the women vendors during the celebration of the International Working Women’s Day last May 8.
The Baguio public market has been a cultural symbol of the city since it was established in 1913.
Located at the lower end of Session Road along Magsaysay Avenue, this traditional market is a sensory experience with a maze of shops selling souvenir items like colorful native handwoven bags, textiles, wood carvings, walis tambo, specialty foods and the buzz of bargaining between vendors and shoppers.
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With a total land area of about 3.25 hectares, the market has been a major trading center for more than a hundred years for products from the Cordillera region, including vegetables, fruits, meat, flowers, and coffee.
The market is made of six postwar structures finished with the same Baguio stone used in the earlier market buildings, which were inaugurated in April 1952.
It survived bombings in World War II, but several destructive fires in 1960, 1970, 1992, and 2008 have gradually diminished the old market.
The redevelopment plan or “mallification” of the historic trading center has been the subject of debate for the past few years.
The controversial SM Prime Holdings redevelopment project involves a public-private partnership (PPP) proposal to build a P4.5-billion multilevel facility that include the construction of a four-story building that would accommodate all 4,000 vendors currently selling meats, vegetables, fish, clothes and other goods, along with an eight-level parking building.
The city planned to relocate the 4,000 vendors to a temporary site in the Slaughterhouse Compound.
Market vendors and advocates held several protests, highlighting concerns over vendor displacement, rent hikes, loss of livelihood, and threats to the market’s traditional culture, while demanding transparent, locally led redevelopment.
Critics stressed that modernization process should not only benefit corporations but should serve the people and preserve the city’s cultural and economic heritage.
National Artist for Film and Broadcast Eric “Kidlat Tahimik” de Guia said in a letter that despite the market’s need for redevelopment, he warns that corporations prioritize profit over people.
Kidlat said that corporations are focused on “super efficiency just to get quick cash in, cash out. But the very colorful market vendors, human beings, will lose their place.“
The Baguio City government recently cancelled the controversial SM Prime Holdings redevelopment project following strong opposition from local vendors and residents.
“This is not the end. Our fight has just begun. We have proven that we can push back a giant corporation through our unity,” said Sofia Villanueva, president of the Women Vendors Association.
I was present last March 8 during the gathering at the public market Block 4 in celebration of International Working Women’s Day.
Proclamation No. 227 (1988) declared March as Women’s Role in History Month, while Republic Act No. 6949 established March 8 as National Women’s Day, both aim to acknowledge the valuable contributions of women in society and promoting gender equality.
Participants wearing purple graced the venue to symbolize solidarity with women’s rights. The event featured discussions led by women leaders, market vendors, advocates, and youth organizers.
Performances complemented discussions on pressing issues affecting women and the broader public, including the "mallification" of the market, rising commodity prices, the privatization of essential services, and calls for accountability against corruption.
I empathize with them as my mother was a market vendor herself when she was young.
When we were growing up, I remember times when Mama scolded us, “Buti nga kayo di nyo naranasan ang magtinda ng kamatis sa palengke.” Then she would cry. Perhaps, this was her way of saying that whatever the benefits we were enjoying then were due to their hard work. This is something that children have to realize: that parents will sacrifice a lot for the future of the kids.
More than 200 campus journalists from across the country gathered in Baguio for the 28th Word Cup Philippines National Journalism Conference, where the Baguio public market issue took center stage.
Speakers include the author and former members of College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Nonnette Bennet, Eugene and Ana Marie Calapit, and Jennifer Lee Bonto.
The conference focused on the importance of fact-checking and contextual reporting on issues that shape communities with a call for young journalists to use their platforms to report responsibly.
(Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0908-8665786.)
