Kalibo public market fee for rice sacks ‘too high’?

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

 

Rice vendors in Kalibo Public Market asked the municipal government of Kalibo to reconsider the increase of market entrance fees for agricultural products.

The Kalibo Public Market United Stall owners and Vendors Association through its president Danilo Lopez sent a letter to Kalibo mayor William Lachica last week.

The association claimed the market collectors are charging only P3 per sack over the past eight years and an increase of P12 per sack or 400 percent increase will affect their net profit.

Acting Kalibo treasurer Rey Villaruel said the P12 per sack of rice is charged as market entrance fee based on 2014 Kalibo local revenue code under Section 4A.01 of the charges and fees of municipal economic enterprises and public utilities.

The Revenue Ordinance No. 2014-21 entitled “An Ordinance enacting Local Revenue Code of Kalibo, Aklan” was approved by Kalibo Sangguniang Bayan on December 18, 2014.

Cereals and grains such as rice, rice (malagkit), soya, peanuts, sesame seeds, mongo and beans brought into the public market for sale are charged with market entrance fee.

Villaruel said the new market entrance fee for cereals and grains is within the 20 percent increase allowed by law or an additional P2 from P10 per sack charged to retailers from the old revenue code or Revenue Ordinance No. 2006-17 fixing the market entrance fees for agricultural products.

The municipal treasurer stressed the P3 per sack has no legal basis, at all, in the old revenue code or the 2006 revenue ordinance since the actual market entrance fees should be P10 per sack.

He said the vendors ‘negotiated’ with the previous administration of then Kalibo mayor Raymar Rebaldo to lower the actual market entrance fee of P10 per sack.

It was learned that there no amendments were made in the revenue code, in particular, the P3 per sack market entrance fee for cereals and grains collected from rice retailers.  

 “When we implemented the revenue ordinance on April 1, we had reports of harassment and bullying of market collectors while they are collecting the P12 per sack market entrance fees,” Villaruel added. 

Meanwhile, Sangguniang Bayan member Augusto Tolentino said he is willing to listen to the concerns of market vendors regarding the new market entrance fees.