Metro Briefs: Dec. 11, 2018

MPD catches 319 ordinance violators

More than 300 people were arrested in Manila over two days for violating city ordinances, the Manila Police District (MPD) said on Sunday.

According to the MPD, 319 violators, mostly from the areas of Tondo and Santa Cruz, were arrested between 5 a.m. on Dec. 7 and 5 a.m. on Dec. 9 for smoking or drinking in public places or for stepping outside their houses without a shirt.

“The MPD vows to intensify the anticriminality operations to make Manila a better place to live in,” the police said. —Aie Balagtas See

Wild crowd disrupts concert

An unruly crowd prompted Coca-Cola Philippines to call off a free concert at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City over the weekend and move it to early next year.

The “unsafe behavior” of the around 20,000 people “threatened the safety of the rest of the concert-goers, despite numerous reminders from authorities present,” the organizers said in a statement.

According to reports, several spectators pushed each other, some climbed over and knocked down security barricades while others threw inflated condoms or bottles filled with urine into the air.

In an interview, Supt. Deanry Francisco, Pasay assistant police chief, said the 130 police officers deployed to the concert grounds were “overwhelmed” by the huge number of people who turned up.

Francisco added that 51 people were treated for injuries, mostly for minor cuts and bruises, difficulty in breathing, while some fell unconscious. —Dexter Cabalza