CEBU. After three years of construction, SM Seaside City Cebu at the South Reclamation Properties opens. (Sun.Star Photo/Alex Badayos)
 

CEBU. At the blessing of the fourth biggest mall in the country yesterday were (from left) Hans Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings; Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama; Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III; Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Antonio Ranola, Felicidad Sy, mother of Hans; Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale; Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and Herbert Sy, president of SM Super Value. (Sun.Star Photo/Alex Badayos)
 
THE Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) have strengthened security measures in and around shopping malls, many of which are holding a weekend sale in time for Friday’s payday. 
 
At least 80 policemen have been assigned at the area of SM Seaside City Cebu at the South Road Properties (SRP), which opens on Friday. Traffic is also expected to be heavier than usual in areas leading to the malls.
 
SM management has requested for more security, Senior Superintendent Marciano Batiancela Jr., officer-in-charge of CCPO, said.
 
He said he has coordinated with the chief of police of the Talisay City Police Station and they agreed to put up a permanent police outpost near the mall, which is near the boundary of Cebu City and Talisay.
 
The 30-hectare mall is under the security jurisdiction of Cebu City Police Station 11 in Barangay Mambaling.
 
The fourth biggest SM mall in the country was inaugurated Thursday afternoon where over 2,000 guests, including mall tenants, politicians, businessmen and the press, witnessed the long-awaited completion of the mall.   
 
SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy, who led the blessing, said their vision is to make SM Seaside City a prime tourist destination in Cebu. 
 
“We want this to become a tourist site. Just like Mall of Asia, we have a record showing that about 80 percent of tourists who go to Manila go to MOA. So if we could do the same, (we’d also like to have) 80 percent of tourists in Cebu,” Sy said.
 
SM Seaside City, SM’s 56th mall in the Philippines, has features that are similar to that of SM Mall of Asia. Both malls are seaside.
 
The mall was designed by Arquitectonica, an international architecture, interior design, and planning firm from Miami, Florida.
 
Some areas of the mall have not been completed yet, Sy said. The 45-story watch tower, for example, will be finished early next year yet. It will be the first in the country. 
 
Future developments at the site include an ocean park, expected to be ready in 2017.
 
While some expect SM Seaside City to draw a huge crowd and increase traffic at the SRP, Sy said their project will help improve over-all traffic. 
 
“What we are trying to do here is to improve the traffic,” the SM president said. In Metro Manila, he said, SM dispersed its malls across different locations in the metro to decongest some areas. 
 
SRP, once off-limits to public transportation, will become commuter-friendly starting today with the operation of SM’s MyBus. 
 
READ: Metro Rapid Transport allowed to operate 3 hybrid buses on limited route
 
SM Seaside City is the third SM mall in Cebu, after SM City Cebu and SM City Consolacion. Sy said it is possible that SM will build a fourth mall here if they find can find a similar property.
 
In the next five years, residential towers, office spaces, and hotels will be built at SM Seaside City. 
 
When the new Robinsons’ Galleria at the North Reclamation Area opens soon, Batiancela said the same depth of security will be carried out in the area.
 
As shoppers troop to the malls today, Batiancela reminded the public to be wary of suspicious-looking people and criminals they encounter on the road or inside public utility vehicles on their way to the malls.
 
He also advised the public not to wear jewelry and expensive bags, or anything that may tempt other people to steal.
 
This Christmas season, the police also expect the number of carolers in jeepneys to increase and warned the public against those who harass passengers.
 
Chief Insp. David Señor, community relations chief of the CCPO, said the public should be wary of these mendicants, who usually victimize passengers of jeepneys and buses plying the N. Bacalso Ave. route.
 
These mendicants, he said, usually sing Christmas songs and assure passengers that they won’t harm them.
 
When this happens, he said that drivers must stop their vehicle in areas where there are patrolling police officers and let the officers arrest the mendicants.