The Parañaque City government plans to build what it’s calling the country’s largest Kadiwa Market, a facility that will provide permanent stalls for thousands of vendors.

The planned Baclaran Gateway Market, a 10,000-square-meter facility, is designed to accommodate 2,000 to 3,000 vendors, many of whom currently operate illegally on sidewalks in Barangay Baclaran.

“What we are doing now is simply maintaining control with order,” Mayor Edwin Olivarez said. “We cannot take away their livelihood since thousands depend on it. But it must be in order.”

The project, which will be located near the LRT-1 Redemptorist-Aseana Station, will build on existing Kadiwa programs run through the city’s Consumer Welfare Office.