Shopping malls and other commercial centers in Metro Manila will be opened from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. beginning Oct. 15 (Sunday) until Jan. 15, 2018, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority.
MMDA assistant general manager for planning Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said the agency will also start enforcing the ban on daytime delivery of goods to shopping malls in line with the program to ease traffic in the metropolis as the Christmas season draws near.
“The mall owners will comply with the agreement adjusting the mall operating hours from the usual 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the delivery of goods at nighttime from 11 p.m. up to 5 a.m. the next day,” said Garcia.
He added that the nighttime delivery policy will be implemented until Jan. 15 next year.
Delivery trucks and container vans loaded with goods, imported items and other salable merchandise, piled up the streets of Metro Manila, which the government claimed, add to the worsening traffic during the peak buying “ber months” —reference to the months of September, October, November and December.
The MMDA clarified that deliveries of perishable goods such as food and ice cream are exempted from the ban.
The mall operators gave their nod to the submission of traffic management plan, which includes deployment of their own traffic personnel, and the management of the queuing of vehicles going to the shopping centers will be coordinated with the MMDA.
They also agreed not to conduct of sales and other crowd-drawing events during weekdays.
Among the mall and shopping center participants were Ayala malls such as Trinoma and Glorietta, Shoe Mart (SM), Robinsons, Centris, Fisher Mall, Star Mall, and Araneta Center.
Shopping malls and other commercial establishments are said to be traffic generators during this period.
MMDA records showed that traffic volume rises 15 to 20 percent between November and December. It also showed that “midnight sales” or extended mall business hours contribute to the worsened traffic in the metropolis during the Yuletide season.
The agency is also expecting the traffic volume to increase because of the influx of people and vehicles coming from various provinces in Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon.
