May 22, 1999
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| May 22, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia Philippine town closes to oppose mall construction SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - Almost all business establishments and public market stalls in this capital town were closed on Friday and their owners and employees, numbering about 1,000, went on street demonstrations to protest the proposed construction of a Shoe Mart (SM) supermall here. Acting Vice-governor Rosve Henson announced earlier that full-fledged construction of the proposed P1.5 billion supermall would start next July on a 32-hectare piece of land situated in San Fernando and a portion in Mexico town. According to Henson, the proposed SM building will occupy at least five hectares of the total land area. The complex will contain a cinema, a supermarket, toy store, department stores and other business establishments. Portions of the proposed parking areas will extend to Mexico town. Placard-bearing demonstrators organized by San Fernando municipal councilor Millet Ocampo were particularly opposed to the granting of a 10-year tax holiday to SM Prime Holdings, owner and operator of SM supermalls. Dionisio Polintan, president of the Fernandino United Merchants and Traders Association (FUMTA), said that its more than 1,000 members had expressed apprehension that their businesses would be adversely affected and thousands of their employes displaced once the proposed SM supermall was allowed to operate here. FUMTA members also described as unfair the granting of a 10-year tax holiday to SM Prime Holdings, claiming that they did not enjoy such a privilege when they started business in San Fernando. Polintan and Ocampo said they have been receiving reports that most business establishments, particularly grocery stores, were planning to transfer to other places if the proposed SM supermall was allowed to operate here. Ocmapo also said that at least 3,000 sales people in various market stalls and business establishments in San Fernando would be displaced with the operation of a supermall. Those who opposed the SM supermall project in San Fernando were mostly people in the business community. Many local officials and most San Fernando residents have expressed a favorable reaction to the supermall project, saying that nearby Metro Manila would be saved the congestion of the many shoppers who flock there from the Central and Northern Luzon provinces, as well as those from the Cagayan Valley region. (Asia Pulse/PNA) | |||||||||
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