Asian Cities Offer Manila Food for Thought in Quest for Lasting Hawker Culture

Philippine Capital Lacks Infrastructure and Policies to Turn Street Vendors into Draws

- Mara Cepeda

MANILA - One humid July morning in the heart of Quiapo district in the Philippine capital, Manila, street vendor Jacklyn Alfaro dropped strips of pork lungs into a vat of sputtering oil.

The sharp, savory aroma drifted into the air, mingling with the exhaust from jeepneys and the chatter of a long line of customers waiting for her specialty. She scooped out the crackling, browned pieces and laid them neatly on a tray, ready for the mid-afternoon rush.

Her stall now sits just a few paces from her original spot in Manila's famed Carriedo Street - once a bustling stretch packed with vendors selling everything from snacks to phone cases. That changed when Mayor Francisco Moreno's street clean-up policy, which kicked off on June 30, cleared the city's main roads to make way for pedestrians and cars.

For now, Ms. Alfaro has moved to this zone that is approved by the authorities, but she longs to return to Carriedo's heavy foot traffic.

Her story is part of a broader wave of clearing operations sweeping through Manila, where the drive to reclaim pavements has pushed vendors into side streets and stirred debate over their place in the urban landscape.

While other Southeast Asian capitals have turned street vendors into tourist draws and pillars of local food culture, the Philippines has never built the infrastructure, policies, or public attitudes needed for such a system to thrive in most urban centers. Instead, its vendors remain in a constant cycle of displacement and return, tolerated but rarely integrated.

Mr. Moreno's directive bans vendors from major roads and sends city hall teams to dismantle stalls blocking the pavements. Supporters say it is about restoring order and mobility in a city where footpaths often double as makeshift markets. Critics argue that the directive is car-centric and economically damaging and has pushed vendors to low-traffic side streets, where their sales have collapsed.