Around 200 Wowee Market Vendors Association members protested at the Pasay City Hall on January 12 to demand the reopening of their market.

The vendors and workers marched from the market to Pasay City Hall. Instead of facing the vendors, city mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano hid inside her office. Worse, City Hall played loud music to drown out the vendors’ calls. Police even threatened to water-cannon the protesters.

On December 19, 2025, the local government closed Wowee Market without giving the vendors prior notice. According to the local government, the market committed violations and lacked proper operating permits. However, the vendors said the closure resulted from the political feud between Calixto and former councilor Editha “Wowee” Manguera who ran for mayor in the 2025 elections. Manguera’s relative owns the said market.

The closure deprived more than 200 vendors and over 500 workers, porters, and tricycle drivers of their livelihood. Thousands of Pasay residents also lost access to an affordable marketplace.

The vendors considered the local government’s expensive relocation and push to sell their wares on sidewalks as unreasonable.

The honest and dignified livelihood of vendors should not be jeopardized in warring political factions, they said.