MANILA, Philippines - THE Divisoria market, the "impact project" of America's "benevolent assimilation," was lauded as "the acme of cleanliness and modern convenience." But to the chagrin of the new colonial masters, the vendors seemed unimpressed; they went on strike several times from 1904 to 1908.
This is the part I want my friend Fleda Castro, Manila's Director of Markets, to read. Vendors would spend the night in the market under pretext of guarding their wares, the same problem that has benighted Fleda since she took over. In American times, sleeping in the market was strictly forbidden so customers would not be met with "odors of kitchen, stables, sleeping room, and many dogs..." the day after.
When American authorities wanted to limit space allotted to dry goods, so more fresh produce would be available, jewelry merchants, those selling silk and other fabrics, ready-made clothes, lamps, glassware, crockery, and native slippers were so enraged they denounced the situation in a letter to "Muling Pagsilang," an influential and widely circulated newspaper.
Furthermore, vendors complained about the increase in rental fees from 20 centavos to 35. When vendors of Quinta market heard about the protests of their Divisoria colleagues, they planned to stage sympathy strikes.
Because Divisoria and Quinta were top gross earners in those days, municipal authorities relented, which may not be good news for my friend Fleda. (Camagay, Ma.Luisa, Tondo, History & Heritage, 2010) gemma601@yahoo.com
