month freeze on demolition during the holiday season, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Monday started issuing notices to sidewalk vendors and business establishments to voluntarily leave the areas, reports Manila Bulletin. “As promised, there will be no use of force or intimidation. We will give them notices asking them to voluntarily leave the area or tear down all their illegal structures. We believe we can settle this matter without anyone getting hurt,” MMDA Chairman Oscar Inocentes said. The issuance of notices is the first step in clearing the sidewalks and roadways this month where illegal sidewalk vendors have encroached after the temporary moratorium on demolition the agency had implemented elapsed last December 31. Inocentes reiterated that the moratorium the MMDA implemented last month does not mean that the agency is allowing anyone to occupy sidewalks or areas that have not been designated as vending places. He said the one-month freeze on demolition has given the poor vendors sufficient time to earn a living during the Christmas season. “Pedestrians are the rightful owners of the sidewalks. We should give them back to them,” Inocentes said. He said they have redeployed anti-illegal vendor operatives throughout Metro Manila to drive away sidewalk vendors. On the other hand, business establishments which were found to have encroached the sidewalks were also given a few days to remove their illegal structures for violating the National Building Code. Last Saturday, the city government of Paranaque and the MMDA's Roadway/Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (RSCOG) cleaned up Redemptorist Road in Baclaran after the sidewalk vendors who mushroomed during the holidays vacated the place.
