An ambulant vendor crosses Quezon Avenue  in Quezon City on April 22, 2020. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA -- The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill that would provide rights for ambulant vendors. 

Voting 196-3-0, House lawmakers passed House Bill No. 11337 providing for the magna carta of street or sidewalk vendors or individuals who sell or offer non-professional services that do not have a fixed business location. 

House Bill No. 11337 sought to establish a Local Inter-Agency Council on the Security and Protection of Registered Informal Ambulant Vendors which would be "responsible for coordinating efforts to ensure the security and protection of registered informal ambulant vendors."

The proposed law also provides that individuals who lend money or "extends any means of financial services to any person, whether occasionally or habitually, as a source of income or livelihood shall not be deemed an ambulant vendor."

Under the measure, ambulant vendors should be registered in their locality and should be simplified – not following the regular procedure in registering business and other commercial activities in a local government unit. 

House Bill No. 11337 also sought to protect informal ambulant vendors from unjust eviction or demolition of their stalls "without due process. In cases where relocation is necessary, local governments must provide temporary vending areas."

It will also require prior consultation with authorities and consultation with the informal ambulant vendors, police, and community members before designating any vending area, the bill read. 

The bill also "protects informal ambulant vendors from eviction without due process, and if no designated site is available, local governments must provide a temporary vending area."

Gabriela Women's Party List Representative Arlene Brosas explained why she was against the passage of the bill. 

While they are one in providing social protection and support for ambulant vendors, she said the measure was vague and general. 

"The bill does not itemize which specific interventions, programs, and safety nets will be accorded to our ambulant vendors. Hindi rin nito nililinaw kung paano ipagkakaloon ang mga ito sa ating mga maliliit na manininda," said Brosas. 

"We have raised in the previous session na nakukulangan tayo ng representasyon sa mismong apektadong sektor. The movement of vendors must be done in a humane manner with prior notice and due process. It should not cause unnecessary harm or economic loss to them by preparing a safe and humane relocation area prior to any legal displacement," she said. 

READ: MMDA cracks down on sidewalk vendors in Parañaque

Brosas said there were many questions unanswered such as what would happen to those ambulant vendors that would fail to register and how would authorities ensure that the law would not be used as a tool to permanently displace them from their work. 

"It contains a lot of loopholes and fails to sharply articulate the actual demands of our precarious ambulant vendors," she said. 

FROM THE ARCHIVES: