Manila = Malltown. QED

The capital of the Philippines is Manila, and the word comes from the indigenous Tagalog word “Maynila,” meaning “the place where” (“May”) the Nila plant grows.  The Nila plant is a flowering, mangrove tree that sprouted in abundance along the coast of Manila Bay. But the mangroves are all gone now.

In this article I will prove that the name should be changed to Maymall or Malltown, since the main thing sprouting up there are massive malls that dominate the economy and even the social life of the capital.

Metro Manila has about 77 (!) major indoor malls, each with air-conditioning, movie multiplexes, multiple levels (often up to five stories), scores of restaurants, and hundreds of retail shops, all jammed with crowds of people.  Many of these malls have unusual features, including medical clinics, large churches, government offices, and enormous supermarkets with fresh fruits and vegetables. Some supermalls feature art or culture museums, amusement rides and skating rinks.  The Venice Grand Canal Mall contains replicas of the canals of Venice, with singing gondoliers and live 12-foot-high characters on stilts, wearing Carnival masks, to entertain kids and patrons.

By contrast, our DC metro area only has a paltry 13 major malls, and virtually all lack the unusual features that are common in Manila.

Examining the mall penetration and impact in the two metro areas, consider the following statistics:

• Metro Manila has about 73.3 million square feet (1726 acres or 2.7 square miles!) of mall space, vs. only 14.9 million square feet (344 acres or 0.54 square miles) for the DC area.
• The regional population is 14 million for Manila and 6.4 million for DC, yielding a per capita ratio of 5.38 sq. ft. per person in Manila vs. only 2.32 sq. ft. in DC.
• Metro Manila’s major malls have about 530 movie screens, vs. only 172 in the DC area.
• In Metro Manila the per capita income is only about $2400 USD, while in the DC area the figure is about $62000. Median household income is about $9000 and $141000, respectively.  Despite these immense disparities, Metro Manila’s major malls capture an astounding $1426 per capita per year of spending, while in the DC area the comparable figure is only somewhat higher, at $1738.
• The estimated annual mall spending in Metro Manila is about $20 billion USD, while in the DC area it is only about $11.2 billion.

What these figures mean is that malls are the economic lifeblood of Metro Manila — but not of metro DC.  They are also the center of Manila social life, with crowds at all times of day, busy shops, people doing business, family outings, promenading, dating, with long lines of people waiting to order food at popular venues like McDonald’s and Jollibee.

Why is this?  Major drivers of mall popularity in Manila are avoiding the outdoor heat (usually 80-95 degrees F with high humidity and frequent rain), safety (lots of security guards), incredibly numerous helpful staff, and convenience (locations next to bus lines, jeepney routes, and rapid transit).

By contrast, in many DC area mall stores, my wife and I wander in, see no other shoppers, look around, buy nothing, then wander out, speculating that every shop must be making its nut by selling crystal meth under the counter!

Many malls in the US have been closing due to lack of business.  But perhaps with global warming, indoor malls with AC will make a comeback in DC and the rest of country, as the US becomes more like the Philippines….

Who owns and controls all this Philippine economic activity?  In Metro Manila, the elephant in the room is the Sy family, owner of SM Prime Holdings, with 25 major malls and supermalls (and over 65 malls in other cities) and a net worth of over $10 billion.

Other leading families are the Zobel de Ayala family, with premier malls and the massive 5-mall Glorietta complex in the prestigious Makati area; the Gokongwei siblings, $7.9 billion and owners of the Robinson chain of malls; and Andrew Tan and family, $1.8 billion, owners of the Venice Grand Canal Mall and the Uptown Mall.

By contrast, in the DC area, the major malls are all owned by corporate entities.  Examples include publicly traded REITs such as Arundel Mills, Potomac Mills and Tyson’s Corner; Brookfield Properties, owners of Tysons Galleria and Ballston Quarter; and the French/Dutch commercial real estate giant Unibal-Westfield, which owns Westfield Montgomery and Westfield Wheaton — and 64 other malls across Europe, US and the UK.

The wealthy mall families in Manila often live in prestigious neighborhoods such as Forbes Park, Dasmarinas Village and Undaneta Village. These are close to the malls and commercial centers, lined with beautiful trees, and are gated communities with serious security and hundreds of walled-surrounded free-standing homes that cost from $1.7 million to $60 million USD.  Yikes!

Money attracts controversy, and the mall economy is no different.  Some recent issues include:

The Sy family, owners of SM Prime Holdings, is the largest retail employer in the country.  SM has been accused of the “contractualization” or the “Endo” practice — terminating new, probationary employees just before they reach six months on the job.  By doing this, SM allegedly avoids the legal requirement of providing job security, paid leave, social insurance contributions and other benefits, which kick in at six months from the start date, under Article 296 of the Philippine Labor Code. Charming.  Numerous protests have been launched against this practice.

In 2007, the Glorietta 2 mall, owned by the Ayala family, suffered a massive explosion which killed 11 persons and injured over 100.  The cause was traced to a biogas buildup and structural maintenance failure.  This led to public protests and a major government investigation.

In 2022, Andrew Tan’s Megaworld Mall was threatened with immediate closure by order of the national Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), over a local real estate tax audit.  This caused widespread financial panic and controversy.  Megaworld counter-attacked and was able to prove that it had paid all the appropriate tax.  As a result, the BIR task force involved was disbanded in disgrace.

So, did I prove that Manila should be renamed?  QED?

Next month I will describe in more detail some of the many attractions you can see when you visit Malltown.