Patrons and locators of Ever Gotesco Grand Central Shopping Mall in Caloocan City will rather have business as usual than get lost in the mixup over ownership and tax claims.

?We do not mind who will manage the mall as long as we are not dislocated because we have invested hard-earned money here,? Alex, 38, who owns a stall that repairs and sells new and pre-owned mobile phones, said in Filipino.

Easing the tension, Mayor Recom Echiverri declared a freeze on the takeover, insisting that the issue was solely on long-overdue taxes owed to the city.

?I am leaving to the court to determine if it will give the mall owners another deadline before they vacate,? he said in an earlier interview.

?We have been paying for the stalls for years but we were surprised to find out that the mall administration was not paying what is due to the local government,? another stallholder, a Muslim, told Standard Today.

The private security guards could heave a sigh of relief after being in the frontline as city hall staff tried to force their way into the mall to serve the writ issued by the Caloocan regional trial court.

?We were really happy with the decision of the mayor who was after the interest of small stallholders and lessees to withdraw for a while,? said a guard.

Not a few people will say normal shopping hours, relaxed atmosphere, more customers and cash registers that keep on ringing are welcome in the city?s biggest shopping complex. Arlie Calalo