The palengke deserves good architecture, too

Long before shopping malls became fixtures of Philippine cities, public markets already occupied an important place in Filipino towns. To this day, they remain an essential part of the infrastructure connecting agricultural communities to the cities they feed. Every morning, farmers and traders spend hours making sure public markets have goods to sell.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 20.7 percent of Philippine employment in December 2025. That means roughly one in every five employed Filipinos works in these industries.

Public markets provide an important outlet for agricultural products while supporting small businesses that depend on a steady supply of fresh produce. How vendors handle and store their products also affects how much they can eventually sell.

The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Vegetable Industry Roadmap 2021-2025 cites an earlier study estimating postharvest losses of 20 percent to 30 percent for highland vegetables. These losses occur at different stages of the supply chain, as produce deteriorates during transportation or while waiting for buyers.

This is where good architecture can help. A well-designed market can provide proper loading areas so deliveries no longer compete with customers for space. Suitable storage facilities can help vendors keep their products fresh longer, especially in a tropical climate.

Wider walkways make it easier to move goods between stalls, while natural ventilation can make long working hours more comfortable. For vendors who spend much of their day inside these buildings, such improvements can make a considerable difference.

Filipino designers are already exploring these possibilities. At the Anthology ASEAN Architecture Festival 2026, the University of Northern Philippines earned finalist recognition for a student proposal that reimagines Baguio Public Market through neo-vernacular design and smart architecture.

Baguio offers an interesting setting for such an idea. Its public market has long connected visitors and residents with the agricultural products of the Cordillera, particularly the highland vegetables that eventually find their way to markets across Luzon.

Cebu City’s Carbon Market offers another example. Its ongoing redevelopment seeks to modernize one of the city’s oldest trading centers while accommodating the businesses that have made it an important part of Cebuano life.

Unlike a typical commercial establishment, a public market brings together numerous independent businesses under one roof. Each vendor depends on the market’s shared facilities, but also on having a stall where customers can easily find them.

Projects of this scale present opportunities to rethink how public markets operate. Planners can consider how stall arrangements affect daily trade or how delivery access can make life easier for vendors.

There is also room to strengthen the relationship between markets and the agricultural communities that supply them. Dedicated spaces for farmers cooperatives could give local producers more opportunities to reach urban buyers. Better cold storage facilities could help vendors manage perishable goods without having to sell everything immediately.

None of this requires turning the palengke into a shopping mall. Much of its appeal comes from the familiar faces behind the stalls and the relationships that develop between regular customers and vendors. There is a certain pleasure in finding the freshest produce and negotiating a good price. These are the qualities worth keeping and designing for.