More than 500 vendors, volunteers, and individuals belonging to the Save Baguio Market Movement (SBMM) protested in front of the Baguio City Hall on November 19. They called the protest the “Palengke March.” The group denounced the special session, conducted behind close doors, by city councilors on the market redevelopment.

SBMM’s Padmapani Perez said the council secretly transferred the special session from city hall to Camp John Hay. She said the city council did not show transparency regarding the privatization project. She also expressed concern that most financial aspects of the project remain hidden under a non-disclosure agreement, which prohibits public release. The council only has a few of the 120-day period remaining to review the plan.

The protest coincided with the organization’s submission of a petition opposing the “mallification” or privatization of the Baguio public market to the offices of Mayor Benjamin Magalong and city councilors. The organization gathered no fewer than 20,000 signatures.

The group asserted that the public market can be improved in many ways or solutions without erasing the place’s culture and history.