A YEAR after its opening, Fusion Alley has become less a livelihood project and more a burden imposed on the community around it.
The food park, which operates from 4 p.m. to midnight along I. Delos Reyes Street, corner P. Noval Street, in Sampaloc, Manila, was established by the Manila City Government as part of a livelihood program. It was meant to create a food destination in what Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso calls the “Heart of U-Belt.”
Instead, it has created a growing list of complaints over sanitation, noise, congestion, blocked pedestrian access, and the quality of life of nearby residents.
The Varsitarian first reported on these concerns a month after Fusion Alley opened. Yet more than a year later, the same problems persist.
The city government even formally closed I. Delos Reyes Street for the food park through Resolution No. 297, Series of 2025, allowing the road to be closed from 5 p.m. to midnight.
A public road was effectively repurposed to accommodate a government-backed commercial venture. That decision alone should have prompted greater scrutiny: a space maintained for public use was being taken away from the public to sustain a livelihood project.
Instead, the problems multiplied.
Foul odors, litter, oil-stained pavement, improper waste disposal, and piles of garbage became familiar sights. Students living in nearby dormitories and area residents have had to deal with the consequences, while local businesses have struggled amid the disruption.
When the Varsitarian raised the issue with Domagoso during the Kapihan sa Manila forum on July 30, he defended Fusion Alley but promised that the city would “do better.”
Cleaning operations were subsequently doubled. But when monsoon rains flooded Manila, garbage, cockroaches, and rats were seen floating along P. Noval Street as floodwaters reached ankle- to waist-deep levels in some areas.
If doubling the cleaning operations still leaves the community dealing with this, then the problem is clearly bigger than how often the streets are swept.
A livelihood program cannot justify taking over public space while imposing persistent sanitation, traffic, noise, and environmental problems on the community.
But this also raises a more fundamental question: If Fusion Alley was created to provide better livelihood opportunities for some, what about the people who were already living, working and studying in the area before it existed?
Their right to a safe, accessible, and livable community should not become the price of another group’s livelihood.
The city should not be forced to choose between supporting vendors and protecting residents. There must be a better solution — one that allows street hawkers to earn without unduly displacing public space, or regular shops that pay rent and taxes without disrupting surrounding communities or compromising the welfare of those who have called the area home long before Fusion Alley arrived.
The concerns have been raised. The problems have been documented. The promise to “do better” has been made. What remains is for the city government to decide whether doing better means simply cleaning up the consequences — or reconsidering the arrangement that created them in the first place.
