Patrons of Ayala Center Mall (right photo) wait for their turn to enter and again shop and dine at the mall during its reopening on Thursday. Left photo, customers are seen enjoying spending time at the mall.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
Patrons, employees welcome mall reopening three days before Sinulog Grand parade
For Tina Toledo, a retired schoolteacher who is now residing with her husband in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City, Ayala Center Cebu was more than their go-to place to shop, relax, and dine. Since their children had their own families, the Toledo couple bonded with them more in the mall.
When the establishment was finally reopened yesterday, 12 days after the fire that gutted five floors of the Metro Gaisano department store and prompted Ayala’s management to temporarily close it, Tina told Cebu Daily News that she was excited to step inside it once again.
“We’re living in Banilad, and Ayala is the nearest mall. If we go to SM or SM Seaside, they’re both far away. And the traffic on the roads is already a hassle. I was so excited to go back here,” said Toledo.
The 57-year-old Toledo, and along with other mall goers who were the first to enter Ayala Center Cebu since it was closed last January 6, also attended a Holy Mass yesterday organized by the management of the mall and Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), who owns and operates it.
Msgr. Roberto Alesna, who celebrated the Mass, encouraged everyone— the employees and patrons of the mall— to remain optimistic even in times of trial.
Alesna also reminded them to always help each other when the need to respond to crisis arises.
“I can always attest to the power to help one another, and coupled with faith in God, it can lead to more positive things. This, the power in helping out each other, should be upheld and remain in our minds and soul,” he said.
The reopening of Ayala Center Cebu came three days before Cebu would be celebrating the Sinulog Festival. Shortly after the Mass, a group of dancers performed a brief Sinulog dance in the Terraces to welcome visitors.
“Thank you, Señor Sto. Niño for keeping us all safe, and thank God for keeping Ayala Center Cebu safe, too, which is just inches closer to Metro Gaisano. But thank you, for keeping everyone in Metro safe. And surely, a new structure will rise again,” said Alesna.
But not all shops inside the mall reopened. Those adjacent to Metro Gaisano’s entrance inside the establishment remained closed as of yesterday morning, and wooden planks were boarded up to prevent visitors from entering certain areas.
The area on the mall’s lower ground floor, which connects to the Metro supermarket, will not be boarded up, but the Metro side will just be closed using its metal roll down doors.
Business as usual
Meanwhile, it is still business as usual for employees under Metro Gaisano who, after spending days reassigned in other stores under the Metro Retail Group, the mother company of Metro Gaisano, were busy yesterday preparing their Sinulog booth at Ayala Center Cebu’s lower ground floor.
Flora (not her real name), 39, who has been with Metro for more than two years, said that what matters to her was making sure that she still has a job even though their workplace was burned down.
“After the fire, I was told to transfer to Metro Colon for the meantime. When I returned here, I cannot say I’m that excited. It’s still work, but we’re really grateful the incident did not rob us of our jobs,” said Flora.
Ayala Center Cebu, although unscathed by the fire that first broke out in Metro’s toy warehouse on the evening of January 6, was closed to the public until last Wednesday (January 16). The fire that gutted the department store lasted for more than 67 hours before the Bureau of Fire Protection – 7 (BFP-7) declared a fire out.
Jeanette Japzon, CHI corporate communications manager, said that even though the BFP-7 permitted them to open after the latter declared a fire out of the Metro, they decided to close it to make sure that it is safe for the public to visit.