Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Philippines: School Zone or Ukay-Ukay Zone?

The Mission of the Department of Interior and Local Government of the Philippines:

The Department shall promote peace and order, ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY, strengthen capability of local government units through active people participation and a professionalized corps of civil servants.

                           *   *   *   *   *

I first posted this photo on November 23, 2018, on the 'Victoriahanon Kami' Facebook page taken from the southern end of a crowded Yap Quiña St. in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. 

School Zone or Ukay-Ukay Zone?
The photo I posted shows Yap Quiña St. where the entrance gates of the Victorias Elementary School 1 (or VES1 as parents and teachers call it) are located. (Years ago, the Victorias Elementary School was divided into VES 1 and VES 2 because the student population was so large that it couldn't be managed by one school principal alone. This street is used by VES 1).


'Ukay-ukay' is a Filipino term for a flea market selling used clothes and other items. The term came from the word 'halukay' that means to rummage.

                     (Not Instagram-worthy
                  but worth raising the issue for)

The only thing wrong about the photograph was that, on the right side of the photo, UKAY-UKAY stalls that stretched from one end of the street (at Victorias Commercial Center side) up to the end other (bordering Montinola Street) have eaten up the sidewalk and part of the street on that side where the schools' gates are!

(A part of the map of Victorias City showing 
Yap Quiña St. littered with red spots representing ukay-ukay stalls in front of VES1)

The scene caught my attention because the school children and their parents were being squeezed between the stalls and the passing tricycles and other vehicles. Anyone of them could be sideswiped! 😓And this happens in the morning when the kids go to school, at noon when they are fetched and brought back to school again, and in the afternoon when they leave for home.

Here is an actual video of the scene taken on November 26, 2018, at 7AM when kids and parents (and a few lolas!) arrive at school. The entrance gate to the school is hidden behind the ORANGE tarpaulin tents of the ukay-ukay stalls.

After I posted, a lot of commenters agreed about the risk faced by the children, their parents, and teachers as they go to school, and other pedestrians that also pass through this street.

Of course, a few commenters bashed me for complaining on behalf of the kids and their parents. I simply shrugged off narrow-minded creatures. They're not worth my keystrokes. Ha-ha-ha!😆

But I wondered, like the rest of the Victorias citizens, WHY the Barangay 4 officials and the Victorias City government gave business permits to these ukay-ukay stalls. In my post, I asked for them for any reaction or response, but there was none.😞

                                (Tarpaulin ukay-ukay tents being 
                 set up on November 20, 2018)

The stalls were set up on November 20, 2018, a Tuesday, when there were no classes due to Typhoon Samuel's Signal No. 1.

          (The ukay-ukay tents eat up the SIDEWALK 
      and part of the street adjacent to the school)


Since the suspension of classes for two days was announced the day before, the ukay-ukay vendors probably decided that it was the best time to put their stalls up and surprise everyone - the students, their parents, the principal and teachers - on Thursday, the next school day.

       (The ukay-ukay tents eat up the SIDEWALK 
        and part of the street adjacent to the school)

On a sad note, however, a few mothers messaged me that they worry every day as their own kids face this risk of having an accident. One mother told me that she works away in Manila and that she's worried that she's not around to watch her kid go to school every day.

    That's the school's name hidden by the stalls. 
                 The new name should be: 
Mababang Paaralan (at Presyo) ng Ukay-Ukay


One grandmother, Lola Belen, told me personally that she and her apo (grandkid) have to be careful about the danger on that street and that the authorities even closed the gate where they usually enter.

Another grandma, Lola Lydia, also told me personally that whenever she brings her grandkid who goes to VES2, they avoid this street. She also told me that they should relocate those stalls for the simple reason that people who want to buy from the ukay-ukay stalls will go wherever they are located. See? You don't need a grandma to disprove the local government's logic of putting them there. 

 (Ukay-ukay stalls compete for space vs 

 students, tricycles and other vehicles)

      (Is it a SCHOOL zone or an UKAY-UKAY zone?)

According to the Mission of the Philippine Department of Interior and Local Government, they should ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY.

But in this case, it seems in Victorias City, the mission is impossible.😢

Have a walk with the students through the ukay-ukay, er, school zone and decide for yourself:

  
PS. This blog is dedicated to the mothers who messaged me about their concern for the safety of their children every day. 😭