By MINKA TIANGCO
The commander of the Ermita Police Station was removed from his post on Sunday for failure to implement the social distancing rule when nearly a thousand people flocked to Manila Bay to see its synthetic white sand.
Brig. Gen. Rolando Miranda, Manila Police District (MPD) director, said Lt. Col. Ariel Caramoan was placed under administrative relief.
Miranda said there were more visitors at Manila Bay on Sunday than on Saturday when it was partially opened to the public.
The crowd caused traffic along Roxas Boulevard that was closed on Saturday for the International Coastal Clean-Up Day.
Cesar Chavez, Manila mayor’s chief-of-staff, said they were surprised by the number of people at Manila Bay.
“Nabigla rin kami,” he told reporters. “Mukhang mahihirapan kami.”
“While we are happy that people are enjoying, we should maintain physical distancing because there is still COVID-19 in Manila,” he added.
He said they reminded Miranda twice on Saturday to anticipate the crowd the next day and mobilize the police force to properly implement physical distancing and other health protocols.
Around 80 police officers were deployed to Manila Bay on Sunday morning, the MPD chief said. Chavez also said that they banned people from crowding the overpass near the area.
However, Miranda admitted that they had difficulty in controlling the crowd.
“Hindi maawat ang mga tao, masyadong na-excite,” he told reporters.
“Lahat gusto ng share of the pie. Gusto mag-picture, i-post sa social media na ‘Nakapunta ako sa white sand’,” he added.
Miranda said it would be difficult to arrest health protocol violators so they would just intensify their crowd control measures.
Chavez said that since Manila Bay will only be open to the public on weekends, officials will have time to discuss the incident.
