Street Vendors, their Contested Spaces, and the Policy Environment: A View from Caloócan, Metro Manila

Abstract

In developing states of Southeast Asia, street vendors play a significant but frequently unappreciated role in both the vibrancy of public spaces as well as the informal economy. Yet, they are subject to indiscriminate purges from sidewalks and other contested territories, which they occupy for lack of provision of spaces in which they could otherwise do business. But such occurrences, and the conflicts that may follow, can be addressed by revisiting policies, which seem anti-vendor or which fail to comprehend their presence and needs. This research studied street vendors of one of the active commuter interchanges of Metro Manila, the Monumento Station area in Caloócan City, framing their needs, issues and aspirations against existing laws. Simultaneously examined were typical uses of shifting, often contested stretches of roads, corners, and easements where hawkers, among other users, daily negotiate a claim to the city's space.

Who Governs the 'Ungovernable'? Examining Governing Relations in Urban Informality

“…In addition, although many studies have focused separately on formal rules governing street vending and on how informal vendor groups have engaged with state agencies (Etemadi, 2004;Hlela, 2003;Recio & Gomez, 2013;Roever, 2006), there is a gap in problematizing how the formal-informal interface operates in contested vending spaces 6 . For instance, street vendor associations engage with government agencies and simultaneously develop informal mechanisms to govern public spaces (Etemadi, 2004;Hlela, 2003;Peña, 1999;Recio & Gomez, 2013;Shuaib, 2007).…”

“…For instance, street vendor associations engage with government agencies and simultaneously develop informal mechanisms to govern public spaces (Etemadi, 2004;Hlela, 2003;Peña, 1999;Recio & Gomez, 2013;Shuaib, 2007). Yet, there is a dearth of empirical research that investigates the formal-informal interface, particularly in the context of governing and appropriating contested vending spaces 7 .…”

“…In the Philippines, where the dominant national policy prohibits informal vending, some city officials have a tolerant attitude towards street hawking due in part to poverty issues and the conflicting national policies governing the activity (Recio & Gomez, 2013). In Cebu City, a metropolitan area in central Philippines, local authorities tolerate hawking, even if it violates certain national and local legislations, as a result of political leverage created by sustained organizing and lobbying efforts by vendors associations in the urban centre (Etemadi, 2004).…”

“…In the Asia-Pacific region, for instance, the United Nations has recognized how workers and enterprises move along the formal-informal continuum (UN Habitat & UN ESCAP, 2015). Even governments in some countries have resorted to formal and informal approaches in dealing with livelihoods like street vending (Batréau & Bonnet, 2016;Etemadi, 2004;Hlela, 2003;Peña, 1999;Recio & Gomez, 2013;Shuaib, 2007). In the face of persistent apocalyptic view of informality and the increasing attention to the formal-informal links, it is crucial to ask, who governs the seemingly 'ungovernable' practices in urban informality?…”

“…The first factor has to do with the ability of vendors to engage in the 'politics of the streets' (Bayat, 1997(Bayat, , 2000Hanser, 2016;Musoni, 2010) and/or build associations to employ engagement strategies -from bribery schemes to collective political pressure (Brown et al, 2010;Cross, 1998b;Peña, 1999;Recio & Gomez, 2013). In a number of cases, the everyday interactions, resistance and collective actions enable state engagement, which allows the hawkers to occupy certain spaces without the threat of eviction.…”