Shopping malls in the Philippines are bearing the brunt of rigid quarantine rules.
They continue to suffer from slow foot traffic as cases of COVID infections post record levels amid the imposition of strict granular lockdowns and the extended modified enhanced community quarantine in select provinces in Luzon.
Christopher Maglanoc, president of Ayala Malls, a unit of Ayala Land Inc., said foot traffic has never improved and remains at 50 percent to 60 percent lower compared with pre-pandemic levels.
He noted that mall tenants and vulnerable merchants like salon owners, restaurants, gyms and cinemas have not had decent sales for one and a half years now, and adjust operations in compliance with changing quarantine protocols.
Many tenants, he added, had been turning out sales of 30 percent to 60 percent, which is not at break-even level.
Maglanoc said mall operators were more open to the proposed vaccine bubble in which only vaccinated people are allowed to enter the malls freely.
“We welcome the proposal to allow the customers to enter our malls freely and allow the `bakuna bubble’ concept to be implemented at the level of individual shops. So this initiative will certainly help the sectors, not to mention the multiplier effect of restoring employment and further fuel consumption and other economic activities,” Maglanoc said in a Go Negosyo forum Monday.
He added some merchants are forced not to operate for several days at a time to minimize daily operating costs, even if they are allowed to run.
“Merchants have had to factor in higher costs of doing business due to safety measures, higher material costs and logistic costs, heavy discounting and accumulated losses from lockdowns,” he said.
Despite the losses, Maglanoc said malls are fully supportive of the goals of the government and the business sectors in “cautiously stimulating the economy.”
“The ‘bakuna’ will definitely help impacted segments of the retail industry to give businesses a chance to recover and survive,” he said.
Meanwhile, consumer advocacy group Laban Konsyumer Inc. on Monday criticized the Department of Trade and Industry for approving and releasing exorbitant suggested retail price increases in the midst of a health crisis.
Referring the new set of SRPs published by the DTI on August 29, 2021, LKI noted that the DTI had deleted six evaporated milk brands from the list.
“More brands are now without SRP and price increases are not monitored by DTI. In terms of bread, there are no branded breads added to Pinoy Tasty and Pinoy pandesal,” Dimagiba said.
The group also said that while the SRP on breads, bottled water, candles, toilet soap and battery remained unchanged, canned goods adjusted prices. The price of canned sardines in tomato sauce, for one, rose P0.50 to P0.75 per can.