MANILA -- Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has prohibited vegetable cargo trucks from traversing Recto Avenue, particularly the portion leading to and from Divisoria Market.

Estrada on Sunday said vegetable dealers may instead park their trucks and unload merchandise in the side streets around Divisoria, ntoing that truckers impede traffic in 500-meter stretch of Recto Avenue.

"We’ve been lenient to them for such a long time. Now that we are putting order back in our streets, we should be stricter. Mga Manilenyo naman ang pagbigyan nila," he said.

Estrada also banned vegetable dealers from selling in the streets.

"Bring them to the market, not on the road where you disrupt traffic flow. Also, your vegetables are at risk of being contaminated with dirt and pass it on to your customers," he said.

Dennis Alcoreza, head of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB), said up to 30 vegetable trucks from Benguet, Baguio and other provinces unload their cargoes in Recto Avenue every night, disrupting traffic flow.

"Ang ginagawa nila, d’un sila nag-a-unload ng mga gulay, at doon na rin sila nagtitinda sa mismong kalye at sidewalk, eh, main road ‘yun," he said.

Vegetable dealers also leave behind 16 truckloads of garbage in the street daily, according to Che Borromeo, head of Task Force Manila Cleanup.

Estrada has personally led a series of road clearing operations in Divisoria, removing at least 2,000 illegal vendors and structures in the area.

Clearing operations have also been conducted in Binondo, Blumentritt, Quiapo, and Sta. Cruz-Rizal Avenue in the past weeks.