Muslim traders’ president, Eng’r Nassif Malawani, in Greenhills, San Juan City, urges Filipinos to patronize MMMTA’s products at Greenhills Mall, assures they offer quality, inexpensive goods and ready for the coming Christmas Season
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PASIG CITY, September 26, 2024 (SDN) — Hundreds of Muslim traders in Greenhills, San Juan City, Metro Manila, have already eliminated pirated products from their shops.
Eng’r Nassif Malawani, president of the Metro Manila Muslim Traders Association (MMMTA), assured this on Thursday at the Kapihan sa Metro East Media Forum in this urban jungle, east of the National Capital Region (NCR).
He took advantage of the opportunity to thank San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora for helping out his group and for putting in place an environment conducive for business undertakings.
Malawani, a native of Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, recalled that his fellow Muslims have made Greenhills their preferred place of business among other enclaves in the NCR, since 2o years ago. He is also president of the Greenhills Muslim Business Club Foundation (GMBCF).
It can be recalled the Mindanao war between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forced thousands of Muslims to escape to Metro Manila, and other parts of the country to start a new life.
Many landed and called home San Juan City where they established livelihood undertakings.
Their business, then just a “tiangge”, or bazaar, which includes IT products, ready-to-wear goods, shoes, jewelries, phones, eateries serving Moro food and delicacies catering to Muslims and non-Muslims experienced a boom. He said the MMMTA is comprised of some of the 13 Moro ethnic communities, among them, Maranao (the majority), Maguindanaon, Tausug, Yakan, and others.
And as the years rolled by, Malawani said their businesses continued to boom and contributed to San Juan’s economic boom during the time of the Estrada family’s political leadership of the prosperous city.
Like all other aspects of life, he said their businesses were impacted by the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic that broke out in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, smashing the world. Now, around five years after the pandemic killer machine, he said their businesses have been in the road to recovery, their various goods perking up as customers flocked to Greenhills Shopping Center, now the Greenhills Mall.
Amid all the challenges, the MMMTA businessmen and businesswomen’s goods were hit hard by the United States campaign against the selling of pirated goods. The U.S. government had been monitoring businesses in Greenhills for piracy and communicated their findings to the government of the Philippines.
Muslim traders’ group in harmonious relationship with San Juan City Government
Then things boiled down to a halt as the Ortigas & Company which controls and manages San Juan City’s Central Business District (CBD) summoned involved traders, and the government sending out orders to the MMMTA to stop selling pirated products in compliance with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) mandate. This was during the administration of Mayor Guia Gomez, who was also a strong supporter of the MMMTA.
Malawani slipped in an appeal, or at least a hope, to the management of Ortigas Commercial Corporation (OCC) of reducing the Php50,000 each trader pays for their shops’ spaces at Greenhills Mall, which has at least 2,000 stores.
But it’s undeniable the MMMTA businesses’ contribution to the economic boom of San Juan City. Casual visitors in Greenhills can see hundreds of, even a thousand, people daily inside Greenhills Mall where the Muslim traders’ hundreds of shops are strategically located. And the economic boom started with the Estrada Family’s administrations in the city, and until now during the Zamora administration.
Taking lessons from these temporary disruptions in their businesses, the MMMTA, assured Malawani, is now policing their own ranks to prevent the return of pirated goods.
Malawani shared that Greenhills Mall has transformed as well into a “tourist spot” in Metro Manila, therefore, “piracy (of consumer goods) is a definite no involving any and all products or merchandizes.
The MMMTA president also emphasized what he aptly described as the “good working relationship” between his group’s members and the City Government of San Juan City. He underscored the MMMTA members of which majority are of the Maranao ethnic community wants nothing but peace and order and harmony to reign in the Central Business District of the Ortigas Company.
He also assured that MMMTA members are paying their correct taxes, noting the City Government has been quick in the needs of the traders, including the issuance of business permits.
In relation with this, he called on Filipinos to patronize their shops as they offer “quality and inexpensive goods”.
“Our products are really of good quality and not expensive, and strict security measures are the reasons why Filipinos are patronizing products in Greenhills,” Malawani assures.
He also took time to say that with Zamora, they have nothing more to ask in as far as their business is concerned as he has already provided all the ingredients for a “good and conducive business environment in Greenhills.”
The PaMaMariSan Rizal Press Corps in collaboration with Ako Pinoy Advocacy Group is conducting the Kapitan sa Metro East Media Forum, every Wednesday, 10 a.m., in Pasig City, Metro Manila.(/)