NETIZENS hail the recent move of Mayor Honey Lacuna ordering the investigation into shopping malls that charge their customers for the use of their public toilets or restrooms that is supposedly free.
Lacuna directed City Administrator Bernie Ang to write to mall owners in Manila and ask them to stop charging mall goers a fee every time they use comfort rooms inside the establishment.
This kind of practice goes against the welfare of the mall-going public and is being inconsiderate, said Lacuna.
She also appealed to those behind the operations of shopping malls to put an end to such practice, saying it is anti-poor and runs counter to regulations set by the local government.
The issue came to light after media colleague Juliet de Loza of Abante/Abante Tonite and who also happens to be the treasurer of the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association (MACHRA), complained that she was charged P20 for the use of a comfort room at the Lucky Chinatown Mall in Binondo.
According to Ang, shopping malls were given permits to operate by the city government on the condition that they will provide necessary amenities and facilities for the use of the mall-going public. These, of course, primarily include public comfort rooms that their customers may use free of charge.
Even if these shopping malls are privately owned establishments, the city government can still regulate their operations and enforce measures if they do something that may harm public welfare, interest and sound business practice.
Ang warned these establishments should they fail to comply. Violations of the conditions set by the city government may be grounds for penalties and even closure of the establishment.
As for me, I find it totally unacceptable that customers are being made to pay for using a toilet at the very same shopping mall where they are spending their hard-earned money. Is this how malls value or repay their customers, who are actually the ones keeping their businesses afloat?
Just like fire exits, elevators and escalators, as well as ramps, toilets should be considered necessities, which the shopping malls must provide for their customers.
You cannot also compare the use of toilets with pay parking. Car owners can afford the fees, given their ability to maintain vehicles and also the fact that they will be using a certain lot or space for a certain number of hours.
Also, while only those with vehicles require parking spaces, this is not so in the case of toilets. Only vehicle owners need parking areas while everyone in the mall needs a toilet at a certain time. If the basic need of using these restrooms comes at a price, it is just the height of greediness on the part of the mall owners.
I was told that under the existing Building Code, the provision of toilets as an essential service for a building is among the requirements.
Indeed, having toilets for building users must be required as some kind of ancillary service, specially for shopping malls. The money spent by customers is the lifeblood of shopping malls, so it should not hurt if they provide their guests, at the very least, free access to toilets.
Under the concept of corporate social responsibility, a business establishment’s end goal must not be to maximize profits but ensure that its operations positively impact the society and the people, which of course, includes its very own customers. Shopping malls owners must moderate their greed.
I join the netizens in supporting Mayor Honey on this one.
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Joke from Junsie Malvar of Pangasinan
Bunso: Nanay Tess, tingnan nyo po drawing ko oh! Okay ba?
Nanay Tess: Wow! Ang galing namang mag-drowing ng monkey ng bunso ko!
Bunso: Hala Nanay Tess, ikaw po yang dinrowing ko!!!
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