Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders
by Rowel Montes
The images circulating on social media are difficult to ignore: vendors of the Tacloban City Public Market standing ankle-deep in murky floodwater, vegetables displayed beside puddles, customers hesitating to enter, livelihoods hanging in the balance.
This is not an isolated incident. Nor is it merely an inconvenience brought by a single night of heavy rain.
What the viral Facebook post documents is a perennial problem—one that resurfaces year after year, rain after rain—revealing long-standing weaknesses in the city’s drainage, sanitation, and everyday infrastructure.
For market vendors, flooding is not just about wet floors. It is about lost income, health risks, and dignity. They endure floodwater because they have no alternative. They sell because families depend on daily earnings. Customers, understandably, stay away—afraid of contamination and waterborne disease risks.
The result is a cruel paradox: vendors must brave the flood to survive, while buyers are pushed away by the same flood.
Public health experts have long warned that prolonged exposure to floodwaters increases the risk of leptospirosis and other diseases. The concern raised by netizens is not alarmist—it reflects real and documented dangers, especially in wet markets where sanitation is essential.
Tacloban City’s geography of low-lying terrain and limited drainage capacity makes flooding a known vulnerability. That makes this situation more troubling: this problem is known, recurring, and predictable.
Revenues Collected, Basic Services Still Elusive
The discussion about market flooding also intersects with a broader question about public services and infrastructure.
Tacloban City is a strong performer in local revenue generation. According to the Bureau of Local Government Finance, Tacloban topped the list of tax collection efficiency in Eastern Visayas, outperforming its sister cities in locally sourced revenues (which include real property tax, business tax, and other local fees). (Calbayog City)
Locally sourced revenues for the city have also been significant: in 2023, Tacloban reported total operating income of over ₱2.4 billion from local and national sources, with local tax collections forming a meaningful portion of that figure. (Tacloban City Official Website)
Despite these figures:
- Recurring flooding persists in key public spaces, such as the main wet market.
- Road maintenance issues and potholes remain visible throughout the city.
- Traffic lights and other basic urban services are reported by residents to malfunction or be inconsistently maintained.
This contrast raises a pointed question: if local revenue performance is strong, why are basic infrastructure and services still insufficient to protect commerce and public welfare?
The Fiscal and Governance Question
Local government officials point out that cities like Tacloban have faced reduced national tax allotments in recent years—for example, a drop of around ₱186 million in the city’s national allocation between one fiscal year and the next. (Philippine News Agency) This means the city must do more with less when balancing its priorities.
Still, the city’s ability to collect local revenues efficiently is not in dispute. What is in question is how these revenues are translated into resilient, people-centered infrastructure and basic services—especially in places like the public market, which is central to the daily life of thousands of families.
A Call for Action, Not Just Sympathy
Expressions of empathy are welcome, but they are no longer enough.
This situation calls for:
- A transparent assessment of the market’s drainage and sanitation systems
- Immediate mitigation measures before the next downpour
- Clear prioritization of basic infrastructure—roads, street lighting, traffic management, and flood control—in the city budget
- An open accounting of how local revenues are allocated to frontline public services
- Timelines and progress reports that residents can track
The Tacloban City Public Market should not be a symbol of resilience through suffering. It should be a symbol of how local governance protects livelihoods, public health, and dignity.
As long as flooding, deteriorating roads, and malfunctioning traffic systems remain “normal,” the issue is no longer just about weather or inconvenience—it is about governance priorities and accountability.
And the public, rightly, is demanding better.
