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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Metro Manila devider Mayor Francis backs calls for rescheduling mall-wide sales amid holiday 'carmaggedon'

Mayor Francis backs calls for rescheduling mall-wide sales amid holiday 'carmaggedon'

Published Dec 15, 2025 11:11 am  |  Updated Dec 15, 2025 01:06 pm
San Juan City Mayor and Metro Manila Council (MMC) President Francis Zamora (Photo from San Juan PIO)
San Juan City Mayor and Metro Manila Council (MMC) President Francis Zamora (Photo from San Juan PIO)

San Juan City Mayor and Metro Manila Council (MMC) President Francis Zamora aired his support for the proposed rescheduling of mall-wide sales in the National Capital Region (NCR) this Christmas to mitigate the traffic situation in Metro Manila amid the holidays.

Zamora made the statement during the city's wreath-laying ceremony in commemoration of Emilio Jacinto's 150th birth anniversary held at the Emilio Jacinto Monument on Monday, Dec. 15.

According to Zamora, mall-wide sales are only allowed during the weekends, while mall-wide sales during the weekdays were discouraged by the MMDA to help minimize the influx of people and motorists, alleviating the traffic situation in Metro Manila.
"Ang policy ng Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) pagdating sa mall wide sales ngayong Kapaskuhan ay huwag mag mall wide sale pag weekdays dahil kasabay nito ang pumapasok sa trabaho pag weekdays, at okay lang sa kanila pag weekends kasi less ang nagta-trabaho compared to weekdays, basta mayroon maayos na traffic management plan ang malls at well coordinated ito sa mga local government units (LGUs) (The MMDA's policy when it comes to mall-wide sales this Christmas season is not to hold mall-wide sales on weekdays because that's when people go to work, and it's okay for them to hold sales on weekends because there are fewer people working compared to weekdays, as long as the malls have a proper traffic management plan and it's well coordinated with the local government units (LGUs)," Zamora said.

"MMDA Chairman Don Artes has been coordinating with the malls for this. Ako po, pabor po ako sapagkat alam naman natin na yung Christmas palang ay dahilan na para ang ating mga mamamayan ay pumunta sa mga malls, more so kung meron pang mga mall-wide sales. Mas maganda talaga kung wala na muna tayong mall-wide sales sa ngayon. Gawin nalang natin ito after the Christmas rush (MMDA Chairman Don Artes has been coordinating with the malls for this. I am in favor of this because we know that Christmas alone is a reason for our citizens to go to malls, more so if there are mall-wide sales. It would be better if we don't have mall-wide sales for now. Let's just do it after the Christmas rush)," he explained.

"Yung volume ng tao ay we want to somewhat mitigate. We want to somehow control kasi again, may natural inclination na tayo to go to the malls because of the Christmas season (we want to mitigate the volume of people. We want to control it somehow because again, we all have a natural inclination to go to the malls because of the Christmas season)," he noted.

He said it would be much better if mall-wide sales were instead conducted in January or February after the holiday rush.

Chairman Artes had earlier said he would ask mall owners to refrain from holding mall-wide sales during the Yuletide season as part of the agency's response to the traffic gridlock being experienced by motorists and commuters alike this Christmas.

However, he stressed that he is not blaming malls for the "carmageddon" happening in the region this December.

"We are not blaming the mall owners. What we are saying is that we are politely asking them, if possible, not to hold mall-wide sales because they really do cause extremely heavy traffic, like what we experienced last Dec. 10,” he said.

"We are not prohibiting sales per se in individual stores. What we are only prohibiting are mall-wide sales, where all the stores in the mall have sales at the same time. So, this does not restrain trade,” Artes added.

The official had also urged the public to use public transportation to decongest roads in Metro Manila of motor vehicles, which is one of the major reasons behind severe traffic jams during the Christmas season.

Related Tags

CHRISTMAS RUSH CARMAGGEDON TRAFFIC CHRISTMAS MMDA MALLS MALL-WIDE SALES FRANCIS ZAMORA DON ARTES METRO NEWS
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