DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/6 November) – The City Council here approved to lower rent rates and other charges for the Davao Food Terminal Complex (DFTC) during its third and final reading on Tuesday morning at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
A vegetable vendor at the Davao Food Terminal Complex. Photo courtesy of DFTC
Sponsored by Councilor Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, chair of the finance, ways and means and appropriations committee, the approval will now amend the present rates and charges as stated by Ordinance No. 0706-10 series of 2019 or the “Ordinance Prescribing the Rates and Charges to be Imposed at the Davao Food Terminal Complex.”
As stated in the amended ordinance, commodity or dropping fees for fruits, vegetables, and root crops are now P4.60 per sack, P9.78 per keg (a small barrel), P39.20 per jeepney load, and P478.40 per truckload – from its original price per kilogram (kg) rate.
Before the approved ordinance, produce priced at P50 per kg and above, the fee is P1 per kg; between P30 and P50 per kg, the fee is P0.50 per kg; produce priced between P20 and P30 per kg, the fee is 25 centavos per kg; and for produce priced below P20 per kg, the fee is 10 centavos per kg.
Motorcycle and tricycle parking fees, which were set at P10 and P15 for the first three hours with an additional P10 per hour thereafter, have been amended to P2 for the first three hours and P1 per succeeding hour.
The 2019 ordinance specified fees of P20, P25, P30, P35, and P40 for 4-wheeler, 6-wheeler, 8-wheeler, 10-wheeler, and 16-wheeler vehicles, respectively, for the initial three hours; P10 per succeeding hour; P100 for overnight parking, and P500 per year for vehicle entry for the market tenants.
Cold storage fees were introduced in the ordinance because, previously, the area’s cold storage equipment and spaces were unused and not covered by the original ordinance.
Food Terminal Incorporated (FTI) reefer vans will be charged P134,406.61 monthly or P4,480.22 daily for freezing, and P97,571.40 monthly or P3,252.38 daily for chilling; Department of Agriculture (DA) donated chiller storage charges P110,039.17 monthly or P3,667.97 daily; and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-donated Cold Storage charges P155,572.75 monthly or P5,185.76 daily for cold storage.
During its committee hearing back in May 3, DFTC manager Josephine Martin, an official from the City Agriculturist Office (CAGRO), said the parking fees, commodity fees, and cold and dry storage fees within the area were suggested “upon consultation” with the sellers and stakeholders.
She added that lowering these rates would “encourage the farmers and investors in the city to avail of the services offered by DFTC.”
Located at Barangay Daliao, 17 km south from the city proper and 15.9 km from Barangay Astorga, a barangay to the neighboring municipality of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, the DFTC opened in 2022 to serve as the “city’s official wholesale trading facility for all fruits and vegetables.”
The City Information Office stated that it is a P70-million project funded by the Department of Agriculture – Region 11 (DA-11) and under CAGRO’s monitoring. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
