THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) needs to optimize the scheduling of mall-wide sales to ease road congestion on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) as an alternative to a blanket ban, the Philippine Retailers Association (said).
PRA President Roberto S. Claudio told BusinessWorld that the MMDA sale ban to be enforced on the 29 EDSA malls runs counter to the spirit of free enterprise and “deprives consumers of information about promotions this Christmas season.”
The MMDA has taken the position that only certain stores or outlets inside the malls should offer sales, which it said should not be mall-wide.
“The malls are willing to agree with coordination with MMDA on the scheduling of mall-wide sales,” Mr. Claudio said.
He floated the idea of two malls at a time scheduling mall-wide sales every three days.
“MMDA just wants to reduce the traffic problems that happen when mall-wide sales happen at the same time in many malls along EDSA,” he said.
According to the MMDA, the volume of vehicles traversing EDSA is currently at 464,000 daily, which is expected to increase to 480,000, with travel speed averaging 18 kilometers per hour by the third week of December.
Deliveries to malls are also only permitted between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., with the exception of deliveries of perishable items. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
