Eleazar suggests allowing only 25% capacity in Manila Bay dolomite beach

Philippine National Police chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar on Wednesday suggested allowing only 25% of the maximum visitors in the dolomite beach in Manila to avoid overcrowding amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Eleazar pointed out that the entrance and exit as well as the duration of stay of visitors in the dolomite beach should be controlled.

“Ang akin pong panukala doon ay gawing 25%. Meaning to say, para bang 3,000 lang maximum, depende sa pag-aaral nila,” he said.

(My proposal is to make it 25%. Meaning to say, it would be like 3,000 maximum, depending on what they have studied.)

In a "24 Oras"report by Jun Veneracion, the Manila Police District said it will deploy 100 cops on weekdays and 150 cops on weekends to ensure the implementation of pandemic protocols in the area.

The policemen will be in charge of implementing the five to 15-minute limit stay for visitors on the beach.

The limit, however, is not permanent.

“The situation dictates ‘yan. Pag nakita nating dumagsa pa, marami tayong augmentation coming from the headquarters. Idadagdag pa natin ‘yan.” Manila Police District spokesman Philipp Ines said.

In a press conference, Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said the area can accommodate a maximum of 4,000 visitors.

However, he said the DENR is still studying if they will reduce it considering overcrowding incidents.

“We will come up with the decision kung ano talaga 'yung number (what will be the allowed number),” he said.

The dolomite beach was reopened to the public on October 16, the same day the alert level status in Metro Manila was downgraded from Level 4 to Level 3 amid a downtrend in new COVID-19 cases.

According to the DENR, around 120,000 visitors went to the dolomite beach over the weekend.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu relieved from his post the Manila Bay executive assigned as ground commander overseeing the dolomite beach, due to the overcrowding incident.

The Inter-Agency Task Force meanwhile will discuss the possibility of filing charges against DENR officials for the overcrowding last weekend, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said. —With a report from Jiselle Anne Casucian/KG, GMA News