Carbon Market

Etymology

The name of the Carbon Market came from the word carbón, Spanish for coal, since the area was said to be close to a coal depot used for the trains of the old Cebu Railway that ran in Cebu from the 19th century up until World War II.

History

Little is known as to when commercial activities in Carbon started. However, the district around Carbon, called Lutao ("float" in English), which also includes the Ermita barangay, is right by the coast and close to the port of Cebu, which going back to the precolonial era, already had a reputation as a “major regional trading center" in the region now known as the Visayas. It is said that trade was already present during the Spanish occupation of Cebu, and Carbon Market predates the American occupation of the Philippines.

Like much of Cebu and the Philippines, Carbon sustained heavy damages from World War II. But as the city and the country rebuilt and grew, so did the market. On May 13, 1964, then-Philippine president Diosdado Macapagal, by the virtue of the Presidential Proclamation 241, formally donated the plot of land on which Carbon stood to the local government of Cebu City, which, until then, was formally owned by the national government.

In the 1990s, there were plans to phase out the Carbon Market leading to the formation of cooperatives by vendors. In 2000, some vendors created a cooperative to sell their wares, and later two other cooperatives were formed by different units of the market. In 2002, three main cooperatives unified to form the Carbon Market Vendors Development Cooperative (Cemvedco).

In 2007, governmental delays in rebuilding of the market caused a political controversy, leading one vendor to run for city council from the barangay of Ermita, winning on that single-issue platform.

As of September 2009, the Cebu City government opened up land for private development of a newer market, called the Bagsakan Center. The goal was to increase competition and lower prices for consumers at both markets.

In the late 2010s, there was a proposal by retail firm SM Prime to redevelop the Carbon Market.

In 2020, Filipino conglomerate Megawide Construction Corporation entered into a 50-year agreement with the local government of Cebu City that will see the redevelopment of the market to include other lifestyle and mixed-use developments within the market, as well as a transport hub which includes a water taxi that will connect to Mactan–Cebu International Airport. As of 2025, Megawide is investing ₱1.1 billion for “Block-2” of the Carbon Public Market redevelopment, to become a mixed-use vertical structure housing food, handicrafts, etc. Completion expected by Q1 2026.

Facilities

Units

The market is housed in three structures namely Unit 1, Unit 2, and Unit 3, along the M.C. Briones St. in Barangay Ermita:

• Unit 1 – Wet market selling meat and seafood
• Unit 2 – Destroyed by a fire in 1998, reopened in 2022 as an interim market.
• Unit 3 – Fruits area. Second floor razed by fire in 2018.

Others

• Freedom Park – named as Plaza Washington during the American colonial era, it was eventually renamed by then-Cebu governor Sergio Osmeña Jr. in 1951 to its current name. The name reflects it as a place where Cebuanos could freely exercise their freedoms and was the site of political rallies, religious gatherings, and debates, among other activities. The plot of land was originally owned by the Order of Augustinian Recollects (which run the University of San Jose–Recoletos across Freedom Park) to the Cebu City government, under the condition "that it be made as a park where people can exercise their constitutional right to free speech and to remain as such". In the 1960s it was gradually integrated into the market, starting out with a few stalls, until the original park eventually vanished. Since the 1960s until the 2020s redevelopment, Freedom Park was known for its flower shops. With the redevelopment, the flower shops and other stalls in Freedom Park were demolished and repurposed back to its original intended use as a public park, along with a 15-meter tall obelisk as a new symbol for the park.

• Warwick Barracks – located between Freedom Park and the Carbon Market building, it was originally the called the "Post of Cebu", set up by the Americans in 1899 during their occupation of Cebu. In 1904, the name was changed into "Camp Warwick" to honor Captain Oliver Warwick who had been killed fighting Filipinos in Passi, Iloilo in 1899. A year later in 1905, it was renamed to its current name, the Warwick Barracks. After the Americans left, the Warwick Barracks were vacated and was gradually integrated into Carbon, and had also been used as a car park. After the redevelopment, Warwick Barracks will be repurposed as a retail area, and will be the location of the new Carbon Market main building until 2022
• Senior Citizens' Park Chapel – a Roman Catholic chapel which is topped by a statue of the Santo Niño de Cebú.
• Pusô Village – named and designed after the pusô, a Filipino rice cake, this strip will house food and retail stalls not available in Carbon. It is located on the edge of Carbon beside the Compañía Marítima Building along the Cebu South Coastal Road.

References

References

1. (15 May 2009). "Cebu". [[Department of Tourism (Philippines).
2. (26 September 2019). "Cebu City mayor open to SM bid to build Carbon market buildings".
3. Sanchez, Charles Dominic. (August 13, 2022). "What the Changes to Cebu City's Historic Carbon Market Mean to Its People". Spot.ph.
4. Oaminal, Clarence Paul. (December 17, 2020). "In defense of Carbon". [[The Freeman (newspaper).
5. Oaminal, Clarence Paul. (February 5, 2021). "In defense of Carbon - Part 3".
6. Bersales, Jobers Reynes. (October 28, 2019). "Cebu City in the ‘Transit’ Age".
7. "Proclamation No. 241, s. 1964". [[Official Gazette (Philippines).
8. (26 January 2009). "Coop helps vendors in Carbon market". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
9. (4 November 2007). "Vendor-turned-councilman pushes for Carbon’s Unit 2 reconstruction". The Philippine Star.
10. (11 September 2009). "Bagsakan center to open by yearend". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
11. (27 September 2019). "Modern market worries vendors". The Philippine Star.
12. (25 September 2019). "SM eyes modern Carbon market". SunStar.
13. Dumlao-Abadilla, Doris. (January 12, 2021). "Megawide wins P5.5-B deal to transform Cebu’s famed Carbon Market". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
14. (October 23, 2020). "Lifestyle, transit features eyed in new Carbon Market". [[SunStar]].
15. Crismundo, Kris. "P1.1-B Carbon market revamp in Cebu ready by Q1 2026".
16. (20 August 2010). "Unit 2 Carbon Market rebuilding underway". The Philippine Star.
17. (28 January 2022). "Interim Market stalls in Carbon now open". SunStar.
18. (29 November 2018). "Fire destroys Unit III of Carbon Market". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
19. Lim, Cherry Ann T.. (August 6, 2022). "New Freedom Park to open in October". [[SunStar Cebu]].
20. (28 October 2022). "‘Freedom Park’ reopens amid stormy weather". SunStar.
21. (20 July 2022). "Netizens share memories of Freedom Park". SunStar.
22. (24 January 2014). "Warwick Barracks to be configured". The Philippine Star.
23. (9 July 2022). "Carbon Market’s Puso Village, mechanical parking to open soon". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
24. (28 October 2022). "Puso village to open in November 2022". SunStar.