Dim lighting, muddy floors, grimy mirrors, dilapidated ceilings, peeling walls, moldy toilets and an undeniable stench. These are what greeted Jennifer Marañon’s senses when she walked into the employees’ locker room of Landmark department store in Makati City, Metro Manila last March 20.

Marañon was a hopeful applicant of Landmark, but decided to forego her job application after she saw the horrible condition of its facilities that its employees had to endure. Marañon took to social media last Tuesday to air her grievances and disappointment, and at the same time shared pictures of the employees’ locker room and comfort rooms for evidence.

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INQUIRER.net reached out to Landmark Makati for comments about the viral photos. The mall’s representatives have not yet responded as of this writing.

“Nakakadismaya po talaga ay ang restroom ng mga employees sa Landmark, Makati. Nasa loob ng locker room yung mga cr ng employee nila kaya pag pasok mo palang ng locker room as in sobra sobrang baho,” wrote Marañon on her Facebook account. “Tapos sa cr wow talaga grabe halos mandidiri ka talaga umihi paano pa kaya kung dudumi.”

(The restroom of the employees at Landmark, Makati is really disappointing. The comfort rooms of the employees are inside their locker rooms; that’s why as you enter the locker room, it really smells gross. As for the CR, wow, it’s really terrible, you will be disgusted to urinate, what more if you need to defecate.)

Marañon shared, too, that the floors of the comfort room were muddy and moldy due to incessant flooding of water, while the ceilings were almost falling apart. “Yung sahig din basa, may umaapaw na tubig kaya maputik at nilulumot ang sahig at bawat sulok ng cr, tapos yung mga kisame nagbabaklasan.”

(The floor is wet. Water is overflowing, that’s why it’s muddy; there are molds on the floor and in every corner of the CR. And the ceiling is falling apart.)

“Sabi pa nila uso talaga nakawan diyan. Yung comfort room hindi ka ma-co-comfort eh! Ewan ko nalang kung di ka magkasakit diyan, dahil parang walang naglilinis. Yung salamin nga di mo na makita sarili mo sa sobrang luma yun bang kahit kuskos gawin mo hindi na lilinis.”

(They even said there’s usually theft there. You won’t feel comforted in the comfort room. You could really get sick in there, because it looks like no one cleans it up. You won’t even be able to see your reflection in the mirror because it’s too old; no matter how you scrub it, it won’t get cleaned.)

What Marañon found strange, however, was that when it came to applicants, Landmark was very strict.

“Pero eto talaga pinagtataka ko ah! Sobrang higpit ng Landmark sa mga applicant nila. Tapos pababalik balikin ka talaga nila,” lamented Marañon. “Tapos yung mga cr nila hindi man lang nagawang ipaayos. Napakahigpit nila pero pabaya sila sa kalusugan ng mga empleyado nila.”

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(But this is what I’m really wondering about: Landmark is so strict on its applicants. You will be required to come back several times. But they can’t even have their CRs fixed. They are so strict yet they do not care about the health of their employees.)

In the end, Marañon expressed that Landmark should be as strict with its facilities as they were with applicants like her. She revealed, “Wala po gusto mag-reklamo sa mga employees dahil takot mawalan ng trabaho.”

(No one among the employees wants to complain because they are afraid of losing their jobs.)

Scrimping on workers’ health and safety

Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Emmi de Jesus did not mince words, too, when it came to the horrible conditions inside the workers’ locker room of Landmark. Last Saturday, March. 24, Gabriela Women’s Party released an official statement on Facebook denouncing Landmark’s actions and called for a probe on the matter.

“It’s ironic how Landmark demands its employees to have pleasing personalities to cater to mall goers while its locker room for employees is way beyond unpleasant and unbearable. This is how profitable malls scrimp on workers’ health and safety,” said Rep. de Jesus, adding that they will file the resolution after Holy Week.

Rep. de Jesus also commended Marañon for exposing the inhumane conditions of the Landmark locker room, and encouraged other mall employees to do the same: “We encourage all other mall employees to take Jennifer’s cue and expose the dire conditions in their workplace by bringing their complaints to Gabiela and other allied organizations such as Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK) and Samahan ng Retail Workers sa Pilipinas (SRP).”

It seems Marañon’s post served as a wake up call to the management of Landmark, based on her post last Friday, March 23, which stated that she received positive feedback and updates from a Landmark employee.

According to the employee, the comfort rooms in the locker room have been cleaned, while the dilapidated ceilings were being renovated. JB

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