Retailers demand program vs flooding

It is now large retail firms that have joined the bandwagon to demand that the government address the flooding problem, as most of them suffer in terms of sales, if not inundation, during the recent typhoons and monsoon rains.

The Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) is calling for the government to have concrete and practical solutions to resolve the crisis.

In an interview during the National Retail Conference and Expo 2025 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay on Friday, PRA president, also the president of CEO of Golden ABC (Penshoppe), Alice Liu, said that despite the very good sales in the first half, most of their members suffered during the nine-day downpour brought by typhoons “Carina,” “Dante” and “Emong,” and habagat.

“With the government’s aid, we will be able to fix disturbance issues, like flooding, which can affect our sales. Because customers instead of having more money to buy other things from us, those budgets are spent on repairing the houses, recovery, etc.,” she said.

Renovations spending up

She noted that most PRA members’ sales from January to June were redirected towards unexpected renovations of their stores and factories, as well as the purchase of new raw materials, due to the severe floods damaging their businesses.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address last Monday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denounced corruption in flood control projects in light of recent widespread flooding amid the enhanced monsoon rains.

The Chief Executive ordered an audit of flood control projects in the past three years and said the government would hold accountable those responsible for anomalous and non-existent projects.

“We’re hoping that when that’s fixed, the more inclement weather we are expecting the rest of the year, that solution would be able to provide more disposable money for our customers to spend on other things. We are hopeful, just like Filipinos, that are generally optimistic amid the headwinds,” according to Liu.

Liu said they know what the problems are, which is why they are counting on the government to have the willpower to fix the flooding problem and put the rest of the Filipinos first before personal interest.

“So, we hope that the message of the President will resonate already with those who need to get the job done. In our industry, we recognize the need to collaborate closely with the government. We have to fix it together, at the same time, we are hopeful that his mandate will really be adhered to and we will see positive results soon,” Liu stressed.

Despite this, she said her group remains positive to hit 15 percent growth this 2025.