The Ramos Public Market, Cebu

As far as my memory serves me right, the Ramos Public Market has been a community landmark. It is housed in the same location as it  was in the 70's. The only change is that -before it was on the second floor with the police station on the ground floor. Now, it is on the ground floor with the police station on the 2nd floor. Well,  a police station and a public market is a unique combination. I wonder what the city planners had in mind. Perhaps, crime prevention... Perhaps under the category of p- public market, police station, "pickpocketeers", pineapples, potatoes...

Anyway, a public market is a must in every neighborhood. It gives micro-entrpreneurs an opportunity to engage in a personal relationship with their customers on an almost daily basis. Most public markets have stalls for fruits and vegetables, meat and fish.

At the Ramos Public Market, the micro-entrepreneurs provide the public with three of their most important needs-  fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and fish. There is a large fish section where one can have a choice of small, medium and large fish. Their customer base include the families, small carenderia owners  in the neighborhood and surprisingly some of the major standard class restaurants in the city.

There is a long strip of fruits stalls near the large water tank. These vendors are the original vendors that had their stalls near Chong Hua which is now Robinson's cybergate. They were relocated at the Ramos Public Market during the construction of the new mall.

Anyway, in most cities, a public market is often a tourist attraction- with galleries, cafes and restaurants. It gives visitors a peek at the everyday life of the buying locals, enjoy  local food and also interact with the entrepreneurial locals. To the city planners, its an idea folks, worth looking into...

I often stop at this public market to buy fruits and fish. The produce are fresh, the vendors friendly, the location is excellent and the price is reasonable.

fruit stalls

mangoes at different stages of ripening

guyabano or soursop

papayas

bananas

salt water crabs

pasayan/ shrimps

lato/ seaweeds

 escapee, call the police upstairs...

lapu-lapu has nine lives  and can never be killed by magellan

guess what kind of fish this is? 

bariles

more descendants of lapu-lapu

tangigue-  ready for kinilaw