Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Monday led another road clearing operation on the traffic-plagued stretch of Blumentritt Road.
At least 600 illegal vendors were expelled as hundreds of city hall personnel and policemen, personally directed by Estrada, cleared the portion of Blumentritt from Rizal Avenue to Aurora Boulevard.
“We’ve been lenient with them,” Estrada said of the illegal vendors. “But they really obstruct traffic.”
The Blumentritt raid came less than a week after Estrada led a similar clearing operation in Divisoria, where 2,000 illegal vendors were removed and hundreds of illegal stalls and other traffic-causing structures were dismantled and taken away.
As he oversaw the dismantling of the vendors’ makeshift stalls, Estrada also admonished several vendors who keep on coming back to Blumentritt.
“We allow you your livelihood but we cannot allow you to inconvenience our taxpayers,” he told one of the illegal vendors. “Roads are for vehicles,” Estrada added.
Aside from Blumentritt, nearby side streets such as Oroquieta, Felix Huertas and P. Guevarra were also cleared.
Vendors are allowed to operate on the side streets of Blumentritt as long as they do not block traffic flow.