The Reality of Street Vendors in the Philippines: Study of Legazpi City

Combining the two texts, we can say that street vending is a longstanding entrepreneurial phenomenon that has been present since ancient times, with traveling merchants trading in different towns and countries. This phenomenon continues to become pervasive across the globe, especially in developing countries, driven by factors such as poverty, rural-urban migration, and lack of education. In the Philippines, street vending is a significant contributor to the country's economy and employment generation, despite being considered as 'out of place' urban elements. Despite the challenges and negative perception, street vending continues to be a viable source of livelihood for many Filipinos. To discuss the issue of street vendors in the Philippines, this essay could explore the role of street vendors in the country's economy and how their contributions are often overlooked or undervalued, despite being a crucial part of the informal sector. The essay could also delve into the challenges faced by street vendors, such as lack of legal recognition, limited access to credit, and harassment from local authorities, among others.

Street vendors are entrepreneurs in small scale who market goods and services at a low price with indefinite locations, semi-built structures, or nameless identity yet still have a physical shop, usually seen along the pavement. They offer a variety of goods and services from fresh ingredients to prepared foods, spare parts to toys and accessories, and even shoe fixing to body massaging. Street vending has always been a source of income in any parts of the world albeit the fact that it is considered as a fraction of informal economy.

The street vendors may be classified into three categories based on the National Policy on Urban Street Vendor. These are: (1) those street vendors who carry out vending on a regular basis with a specific location; (2) those street vendors who carry out vending not on a regular basis and without a specific location, for example, vendors who sell goods in weekly bazaars during holidays and festivals and so on; (3) the mobile street vendors. According to the Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), informal economy is the diversified set of economic activities, enterprises, jobs, and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state. This is also commonly referred to as informal sector. The informal sector receives a mixed review as an economic reality since many observers consider it to be marginal or peripheral and not linked to the formal sector or to modern capitalist development.

Street vending has been recognized as part of the informal sector since economist sees this form of livelihood as unjust. During the rise of unemployment and under-employment, according to Hart (1973) as cited by Chen (2012), most internal migrants in Accra, Ghana were engaged in informal activities that had autonomous capacity for generating incomes. Moreover, most street vendors are self-employed, suggesting that the vendor may and can decide the best location, schedule, price, and modification of its goods and services for his current circumstance. Despite that context, street vendors are an integral part of urban economies, offering easy access in public spaces. Street vendors are visible in urban public spaces and labor force statistics show that street vendors account for a substantial share of urban employment. Asia, for instance, has a considerable fraction of street vendors in its population. For that reason, a number of studies on street vendors have been conducted internationally. In Indonesia, most of street vendors in Yogyakarta experience vulnerability at the medium level with food sellers having higher vulnerability than other vendors and varying across locations of vending. The work context of the street vendors can be described as unfavorable and unsafe.

Saha (2011) suggests that local authorities mistreat street vendors in Mumbai since the study found that street vendors, on the account of the local authorities, were found to have extremely long working hours, with neither safety nor security at the work place due to harassment, and experience extensive rent which contribute to their deteriorating working environment and economic deprivation.

Abebe (2017) found that the major challenges of women street vendors in Ethiopia are customers who are refusing to pay, damaging goods, housing problem, looting, bribe payment and conflict from formal traders and others. Husain, Yasmin & Shahidul (2015) reported that street vendors in Bangladesh experience excessive work hour as vendors and lack of opportunities of alternative formal employment.

Ray and Mishra (2011) reported that the street vendors in India face problems of harassment by authorities, eviction, conflict with pedestrians, and confiscation of goods and extortion by authority. In the Philippines, street vending has become a very common occupation especially in the urban areas. For instance, the city of Taguig allows street vendors as long as their stall is registered, according to the Ordinance No. 45 of 2007 which shows that street vendors are considered a part of the local economy. However, Illy (1989) pointed out that regulations are ineffective and there is a climate of harassment and extorting as in the case of Manila. This reveals an unfavorable working context for the street vending which is a common news report in the national television.

Yanzon (2013) suggests that the problems encountered in attaining quality of life for the street vendors in Legazpi City are along capitalization, location, government requirements, competition and customers. These problems include high cost of goods due to prevailing condition, temporary vending area, excessive government requirements, low sales due to similarity of products, and tightwad customers.