Members of the women’s organizations in Sawang Calero and Suba in Cebu City conducted informal discussions on the Carbon Market redevelopment last May 2021.
The Cebu City government and infrastructure developer Megawide Construction Corp. had signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) last January 15, 2021 for the phased redevelopment of the Carbon Public Market, the city’s largest and oldest wet market, which houses over 4,000 vendors and stall owners. It is a P 5.5 billion public private partnership project to modernize, commercialize, and privatize the Carbon Public Market and to convert it into a luxurious business center that comprises of commercial hubs, a lifestyle village with shops and restaurants, and a hotel. The Carbon Market is where different food products and goods are brought from different parts of Cebu Province and distributed to other parts.
The development is opposed by the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA), Cebu Market Vendors Multi-purpose Cooperative (CEMVEDCO), and the Movement against Carbon Market Privatization (MACMP).
The groups estimated that nearly 16,000 vendors across the market grounds would be affected by the project. Aside from the affected vendors, around 700 families in Sitio Bato, Barangay Ermita where the Carbon Public Market is located will also be affected since their houses may be demolished as well. Two project areas, Barangays Sawang Calero and Suba are located in the same district as the Carbon Market which is in Barangay Ermita. Beside Barangay Ermita is Barangay Pasil and Sawang Calero is beside it, and Suba is beside Sawang Calero. Many of the residents in Barangays Sawang Calero and Suba work in the Carbon Market as vendors. The WRCV is presently gathering data on the number of members of the women’s organizations in both barangays who will be adversely affected by the privatization of the Carbon Public Market in terms of loss of jobs and income.