Merchants lost big due to night market

CEBU - Merchants from outside Cebu are asking that the city not hold the night market along Colon Street while they are here for the Sinulog season so they would not have to compete for customers.

Merchants renting stalls outside the Abellana National High School told The FREEMAN that compared to the previous years, they had very minimal sales during the recent Christmas and Sinulog seasons because the night market had attracted many of their customers.

The vendors, who mostly come from Zamboanga, Bacolod, Baguio and Cagayan de Oro, said they had no choice but to request the city for an extension of their stay so they could at least sell more goods.

The city had allowed them to stay for one more week up to February 8.

Saidamen Hasan, a merchant from Zamboanga, said they have lost up to 70 percent of what they used to earn for the past five years they have peddled goods during the Sinulog festivities.

“Humina talaga yung kita namin ngayon dahil sa night market dahil mas pinupuntahan doon ng mga tao. Sana sa sunod wala ng night market para hindi naman kami malugi,” Hasan said.

Hasan said that they used to earn at least P25,000 per day, but this Sinulog, they were already lucky if they earned P7,000, enough to just compensate for their capital.

Nard Casim, a merchant from Cagayan who has been selling ready-to-wear products since 1997, said his income was not enough to have a return of his investment this year.

Casim said he and several other merchants are now contemplating whether or not they would still come back for next year’s Sinulog.

Compared to vendors at the night market, merchants renting stalls along Osmeña Boulevard are paying a higher rent for their space. — AJ dela Torre/JMO   (THE FREEMAN)