With a basket of maruya and karioka, UP vendor Lani Bulalacao, 43, usually stays on a bench opposite the 7-Eleven branch on Balagtas Street. Sometimes, she can also be found around tambayans near the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice on Apacible Street. Battling the increasing competition from the private establishments in UP, she can only hope for students to continue to support her business.

Lani started selling fried peanuts and fried chicken inside the UP campus after her husband died seven years ago. But when the convenience store branch opened in 2020, she had to switch to selling maruya and karioka. Lani recognized how people would want to buy from a convenience store chain with wider food options, leaving her and fellow vendors to adapt to the growing competition.

Aside from relocation issues, asymmetric competition is another major hurdle UP vendors confront. In the UP DiliMall’s official floor plan, prominent restaurants will be given slots, pushing Lani and other small food vendors closer to the edge of losing their livelihood.

With the persistence of commercialization inside the campus, one that does not offer equitable solutions for the maninidas who continue to face displacement might leave both maninindas and students with hollow stomachs as UP’s plans continue to be devoid of equitable solutions.

For Lani, there is a pressing need for more sustainable forms of assistance for the vendors. And even though she lacks a permanent space to sell sweets, she hopes that students still support her products.

Throughout the interview, Lani embraced her daughter before sending her off along Balagtas Street. Her six-year-old daughter, Lyka, also vends angpao and Christmas hats along the same street to earn additional income. 

Sweetness lingers, not only from the classic snacks she sells but also from her love for her daughter. Lani wishes for her children to finish their education and have a brighter future—one where they only trail the streets of Diliman to play without worry for their day-to-day sustenance.  

As sweet as the offerings of maruya and karioka are, there lies a bitterness in the future of vendors who face the same struggles. Despite her worries, Lani wore the same warm smile when we first approached her when asked for a message for the students, “Sana po malingon po kami ng mga estudyante…kasi ‘yon naman po ang hangad namin.” ●