MMDA, mall operators agree on traffic regulations over Christmas season

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and various shopping mall operators in Metro Manila agreed on Wednesday to implement traffic regulation plans over the Christmas season.

During a meeting at the MMDA office in Makati City, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino and the mall managers agreed to allow at least five security personnel from each shopping mall and similar establishments to be crashed-trained by the MMDA on vehicular traffic management; draft a manual operations for Christmas and Holy Week traffic for Metro Manila-based malls and the MMDA; create the Metro Manila Mall Operators Association; conduct simultaneous Metro Manila-wide nighttime earthquake drills in malls by January next year; and conduct basic search and rescue and disaster management seminar for mall personnel.

Tolentino said the Christmas season traffic management measures were agreed upon to reduce the anticipated traffic congestion during the holidays.  

“Shopping malls and similar commercial establishments are traffic generators during the Christmas holidays so we have to come up with effective and sustainable measures to provide convenience to the public,” Tolentino said.

Tolentino added that the crash course on traffic management will start on Dec. 12. Tolentino said they would also deputize the malls’ security personnel to provide additional manpower to MMDA traffic units, particularly in the vicinities of the shopping malls.

The mall personnel will be tapped to manage traffic outside the shopping mall’s perimeter. Each team will be supervised by an organic MMDA traffic constable.

Tolentino clarified that the deputation of the mall security personnel will only be until Dec. 26 and that they will not be given traffic violation receipts.

Meanwhile, mall managers also agreed to Tolentino’s suggestion to draft a manual of operations that will be complied with by the shopping malls every Christmas and Holy Week, where traffic volume is unusually heavy.

“We need to have an ‘inter-mall’ cooperation so the usual problems we encounter during the Christmas and Holy Week holidays can be effectively addressed,” Tolentino said.

Tolentino also proposed the creation of an organized mall organization that he calls the Metro Manila Mall Operators Association (MMMOA) to firm up and strengthen the shopping establishments’ cooperation on issues affecting the public, especially traffic and public safety.

In response, the mall managers who attended the meeting agreed to form a technical working group to study this matter.

“There should be an association that has the authority to regulate the operation of shopping malls in close coordination with concerned government agencies such as the MMDA. With this setup, the private sector and the government can work together more effectively,” Tolentino said.

Among those who attended the meeting with the MMDA were representatives from Ayala malls such as Trinoma and Glorietta, SM, Robinsons, Centris, Fisher Mall, Starmall, Eastwood and Araneta Center.