MANILA, Philippines?Citing health hazards, the Manila City government on Thursday reminded the public to refrain from swimming in Manila Bay.

Carlos Baltazar, head of the city's Department of Public Services, said signs warning people against bathing in the waters of the bay have already been put up in the area.

?Pero matitigas talaga ang ulo eh (But they?re really hardheaded),? he said, referring to residents who ignore the warning signs in their need to seek respite from the sweltering heat.

?I guess we will have to put up bigger signs, including details about diseases they may acquire from bathing there,? he added.

Baltazar said that members of the city security force also patrol the Manila Bay area round-the-clock seven days a week to go after bathers who usually gather every weekend.

?But the bay is polluted with hazardous chemicals that endanger people's health,? he pointed out, adding that truckloads of trash are collected from its waters daily. ?People can get skin diseases, dysentery, typhoid fever, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis, among others, by swimming in the dirty water.?

He said that instead of going to the polluted bay, residents may use for free the swimming pools at the Army-Navy Club on Roxas Blvd. at the city?s sports centers in Dapitan, Tondo, Herran and Pandacan.