Human Rights Online Philippines

Twenty-one ambulant vegetable vendors were arrested by the Quezon City police yesterday afternoon in along the Elliptical Road and are presently detained at the QCPD Station 9 in Anonas. Old Capital Site Barangay Captain Rodelio Cabigas ordered the arrests for violating quarantine protocols.

The vendors claim that they were only forced to sell their wares for fear of going hungry as the government contemplates extending the lockdown for another fifteen to twenty days, as revealed by National Action Plan chief implementer, Carlito Galvez.

Many of them claim that they were promised food and financial assistance by the local government but none has arrived.

“Unless this government finds a speedy way of delivering its promise of support to the people, the struggling poor will continue to find ways to survive on their own,” said Flora Santos-Assidao, leader of a progressive group Sanlakas.

She adds that these people believe that they are more likely to die of hunger than to be infected by the COVID virus.

The Metro Manila Vendors Alliance appealed to the QC police and the local government for the immediate release of the vendors.

“If the law enforcement agencies can extend compassion for the likes of Senator Koko Pimentel, why not provide the same treatment for those in the fringes of society,” they reasoned.###

Contact person: Flora Santos-Assidao: 0908 4288185

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