By Froilan Gallardo, Special Correspondent .
AUTHORITIES here stopped a mall clearance sale after it attracted throngs of shoppers who defied social distancing protocols last yesterday.
Lawyer Jose Edgardo Uy, chair of the Cagayan de Oro Regulatory and Complaints Board (RCB), said he had to stop the warehouse sale of Nike store at the Limketkai shopping mall where throngs of shoppers came to buy shoes at discounted prices.
Uy said photographs of the shoppers flooded Facebook showing that they did not practice social distancing health protocols.
“There was about a thousand of shoppers who lined up too close to each other,” Uy said.
Uy said he also called up the management of Limketkai mall to stop the flow of more shoppers to the sale.
The sale was stopped one hour after it began but not before police and mall security have a verbal match with some of the angry shoppers.
Uy said the management of the Nike store informed him that they would be having a sale on their shoes for several days.
“I thought it was an ordinary store sale. I never thought there will be a (huge) crowd of shoppers,” he said.
The Nike store reportedly offered 80 percent discounts or “buy one, take one” deals attracting the shoppers
In a statement on its Facebook account, the management of Limketkai mall said the shoppers did not observe safety health protocols.
It said they have temporarily stopped the sale and would meet with the sales team of Nike Store.
Uy said they are studying what charges would be heaped on Nike Store for the violation.
The huge crowd of shoppers attracted negative reactions in the social media.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. also called the attention of the National Inter-Agency Task Force after he received a tweet from a netizen who shared a photo of the crowd.
