Teens throw rocks at Bamboo concert; 3 UP cops hurt

MANILA, Philippines - Three members of the University of the Philippines-Diliman Police were injured in a free-for-all after a crowd of teenagers went wild at a concert on campus at past midnight yesterday.

Police Officer 1 Arturo Infante of the Quezon City Police District-Station 9 said the commotion happened at around 12: 30 a.m. at the Sunken Garden, where a week-long series of evening concerts were being held as part of the UP Fair.

“The crowd went wild as (the rock band) Bamboo started performing,” he said in an interview.

Sergeant Ramon Monterico, 51, was brought to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center for a head injury he sustained after some teenagers threw rocks at the height of the commotion, Infante said.

Two other UP Diliman Police personnel also reportedly sustained minor injuries.

Infante said that as of yesterday morning, Monterico was still at the intensive care unit of the hospital. He reportedly had to undergo an operation.

Jocelyn de Peralta, desk officer at the UP Diliman Police, said two teenage boys aged 16 and 17 were taken into custody after they were seen throwing stones at the height of the scuffle.

Infante said some of those still outside the venue of the fair – which was enclosed with galvanized iron sheets – insisted on getting in, a move that led to the free-for-all.

There was reportedly overcrowding in the area as queues of people wanting to get in to the Sunken Garden at one point reached the Vargas Museum on one end and the College of Engineering on the other.

One of the galvanized sheets lined up to enclose the venue was destroyed at the height of the commotion.

There were 10 UP Police personnel guarding the site, backed up by personnel from the UP Services Brigade and mobile patrol cars of the Quezon City Police District.

Because of the free-for-all, the night’s concert was reportedly cancelled.