Greenhills mall re-opens after hostage-taking incident
MANILA, Philippines — Just a day after a gripping hostage-taking incident, the mall where the hostilities took place announced it would re-open its doors to shoppers and resume regular operations.
"Greenhills Mall will reopen its doors to the public today," the mall management of V-Mall said in a statement on its Facebook page Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Archie Paray, a former security guard at the shopping center, shot another guard before taking 30 other employees hostage in a six-hour crisis at one of Metro Manila's key cities. The injured guard has since been rushed to a hospital where he is currently recovering.
Mall owners also promised its shoppers that security protocols would be strengthened, without going into specific measures it would undertake.
"Management will be implementing policy adjustments to ensure the safety and security of our employees, tenants, and loyal patrons," it said.
Reactions on social media differed. Some commiserated with what many called the unfair treatment the guard received at the hands of his employers, while many others said this did not justify the means.
After releasing the hostages, Paray was allowed to face the media in a de facto briefing for a few tense minutes before he was tackled by security forces.
The mall management said they would "look into [the] allegations made by the hostage taker against security agency officials who allegedly take bribes from tenants to disregard shopping mall policies."
The allegations of onerous labor practices, which Paray said to have prompted him to commit crime, have not been addressed by the mall's management as of this writing.
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