Tacloban to investigate ‘migrant vendors’

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Local government officials in Tacloban will look into individuals who are aiming to profit off affected residents of Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” a report from the Presidential Communications Operation Office said.

According to the report, the “migrant vendors” came from as far as Mindanao and Luzon, based on their language, while some came from nearby provinces like Samar.

“We noticed this through a little bit of survey that they don’t know how to speak the local dialect here and they just set up their businesses here, given the fact that we are still in the process, together with the Department of Trade and Industry of stabilizing the prices.”

Tacloban City Administrator John Tecson Lim said in the same report that the existence of “migrant vendors” who came from areas outside of the typhoon-strcuk areas exploited the high inflation rate on the products, Wednesday morning.

“They believe that there is more money here and they want to sell here because of the high prices of items,” said Lim who attended a meeting with the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC).

Lim said that the newcomers were not only a problem to the consumers but also to the local businesses which still trying to recover their losses after “Yolanda.”

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