EDITORIAL - Fix Larsian and fast

If you are from Cebu, then it’s most likely you have eaten in Larsian or taken someone from outside Cebu to eat in Larsian.

This otherwise small food park has become quite popular with locals and visitors over the decades, and that’s thanks to its cheap food, wide variety of choices, and ideal location to schools, workplaces, and other places of interest, like the iconic Fuente Rotunda.

However, it has recently been in the news again due to a not-so-savory report. A video circulating online allegedly shows rats scurrying around the meat display of a stall in Larsian. Unless they are serving rats there, someone isn’t making sure the vermin are being kept away.

The Cebu City Legal Office has promised to look into the incident, with the threat of taking legal action against those responsible for any breach of sanitary laws found.

This isn’t the first time Larsian became controversial. Just last year, some vendors were accused of overpricing food. Then there were also reports that some vendors were selling barbecue made from spoiled meat.

If there is something wrong in the way things are being done in Larsian, the authorities have to step in fast and fix things.

While Larsian doesn’t really rank up there with other tourist spots we have to offer, it’s also a unique attraction by itself. It’s that place where we can take our visitors to feed them after they have experienced all the excitement we have to offer.

Whether we admit it or not, it has also become one of those places that define Cebu City. For a nondescript hole-in-the-wall to rise to prominence, then survive decades and all the competition from restaurants and fast food chains now available, is a testimony to its endurance and the people’s love for the place and the food.

Rats have no place in Larsian, and the city government must also make sure that people who let the rats fester there have no place there either.