Power struggle at the Barter Trade Center

(Published in Zamboanga Today on January 29, 2008.)

The verbal exchange among two leaders of two powerful groups among local barter traders yesterday fuels more tension at the commercial institution that has been part of Zamboanga's history.
Barter trading is an age-old practice of buying and selling goods without using any currency but the products themselves. The term however no longer 'exists in essence' in business and commerce, as every commodity sold has a monetary value attached to it. From the Malaysian ringgit, Indonesian rupiah, and the Philippine peso, products at the Zamboanga Barter Trade Center have for the last decades of the 20th century always had a price in money. It is remarkable how, despite the establishment of malls and shopping centers in the city, the Zamboanga Barter Trade Center remains to date a tourist's shopping site. The stalls display goods from batik and other printed cloths, to canned goods, a variety of food and goodies, and even toys similar to those we find in shopping centers in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. On occasion, one finds commodities from the United States, China, and Europe.
Almost all of the barter traders are merchants traveling within the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia and Philippines region, as well as from and to China and Taiwan. And definitely, most of them belong to the silent rich and powerful in Zamboanga. The struggle for leadership among the barter traders is hence an event eyed by observers especially since this is a fight among Chinese-Muslim businessmen who also have their own socio-political influences in southern Philippines.
It is hoped that the two warring parties for the leadership and power control at the Zamboanga City Barter Trade will be resolved peacefully. It has been long since the fight for supremacy and control among the traders has been stained with bloodshed, and there are now observers getting apprehensive that the worst scenario is about to come. May the matter be settled with calm and sobriety. After all, more than what it is as Asia's Latin City, as the City of Canned Sardines, Zamboanga is known to be the seat of commerce in the olden days--and the seat of barter trading in the Philippines. That remains to date. (Frencie L. Carreon)