Mall operators have started sending to the Metro Manila Development Authority the list of security guards who will be deputized and help the agency in managing traffic along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
MMDA acting chairman Thomas Orbos said the agency is set to train the security guards this week on basic traffic management method used by its traffic constables and other volunteers from various local government units.
Among the mall and shopping center participants were Ayala malls such as Trinoma and Glorietta, Shoe Mart (SM), Robinsons, Centris, Fisher Mall, Star Mall, Eastwood, and Araneta Center, Podium and Walter Mart.
“They can issue citation tickets but the licenses of traffic violators will be submitted to the MMDA,” said Orbos.
At least 14 shopping malls and commercial establishments along Edsa have expressed interest to join the program.
In a meeting last week, the MMDA asked mall operators to participate on traffic management within the vicinities of their malls as it is also for their best interest that traffic is well-managed in their areas.
The agency will train mall security personnel on traffic management to augment the present MMDA enforcers deployed within the vicinities of their establishment.
“We will train them on traffic management and have them deputized so they can issue traffic violation receipts to erring motorists within their areas of jurisdiction. This will also be a big help for us to control traffic in these areas,” Orbos said.
Mall owners initially agreed to the proposal of the MMDA that there will be no weekday shopping mall sales for the entire year.
The mall owners in Metro Manila held a consultative meeting with MMDA officials last Friday and agreed to the proposal extending the implementation of the no weekday sales policy to further improve traffic in the metropolis, particularly along Edsa.
The shopping mall operators also agreed to deliver their goods at nighttime from 11 p.m. up to 5 a.m. the next day. They acknowledged that these measures helped ease traffic congestion within the vicinities of their establishments.
Orbos pointed out that the no weekday sale of the shopping centers only pertains to mall-wide scale.
The said measures were introduced and initiated by the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) late last year in a bid to alleviate traffic particularly during the Christmas season.
IACT is composed of the MMDA, Department of Transportation, Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, and the Philippine National Police – Highway Patrol Group.