SAN JUAN City Mayor and Metro Manila Council President Francis Zamora has expressed support for postponing mall-wide sales until after the Christmas rush to help ease traffic along Metro Manila’s major roads.
In a statement, Zamora said he agrees with the idea, suggesting that sales be moved to January or February.
“MMDA Chairman Don Artes has been coordinating with the malls for this. Ako po ‘no, pabor po ako riyan sa [pagpapaliban ng mall-wide sale] sapagkat alam naman natin [na ‘yung] Christmas pa lang ‘no ay dahilan na para ang mga mamamayan natin ay pumunta sa mga mall,” he said. “More so kung mayroon pang mga mall-wide sales. So, mas maganda talaga kung wala na muna tayong mall-wide sale sa ngayon at gawin na lang ito after Christmas rush.”
Zamora explained that postponing sales would help control the number of shoppers during the holidays. “Because ‘yung volume ng tao, we want to somehow mitigate—we want to somehow control—kasi again, may natural inclination na tayo to go to the mall because of the Christmas season. More so kung mayroon pang mall-wide sales siyempre, lahat talaga magdadagsa. Pwede naman natin gawin ‘yan, for instance, January o February after the Christmas rush, di ba? Malaking bagay ‘yan kung mapapatupad,” he said.
Earlier, Artes clarified that the agency is not banning sales completely. “Hindi po namin pinagbabawal or pinakikiusap na ipagbawal ‘yong sale. Ang sinasabi lang po namin, huwag sabay-sabay na buong mall ay sale. So, on a first store basis, puwede pa rin pong mag-sale,” he explained.
