Organizers of the Coke Studio Concert on Saturday opted to reschedule the staging of the event to ensure public safety and prevent a repeat of last Friday’s unruly crowd.
The organizers met with officials of the Pasay City Police Station and SM Mall of Asia. The event dubbed “Coca-Cola Christmas Concert” will be moved early next year.
Police said that a number of concert-goers, most of them young individuals, suffered minor injuries because of the unruly crowd. Those hurt were immediately given medical attention.
More than 15,000 people attended the free concert.
“The safety of everyone is of utmost importance to us. The unsafe behavior of portions of an estimated 15,000 spectators such as pushing, jumping on the barricades and throwing bottles, threatened the safety of the rest of the concert-goers, despite numerous reminders from authorities present,” the Coca-Cola management said in a statement issued Saturday.
It added “There were some who sustained minor injuries and were immediately given medical attention. After careful assessment, and repeated requests for the public’s cooperation, Coca-Cola, together with all the artists, PNP, the City of Pasay, and SM MOA, deemed it necessary to reschedule the concert to a later date.”
The company thanked the Pasay PNP and city government personnel who helped them ensure the protection of the crowd and the artists. It also thanked the participating artists for their passion and fully supporting the decision to prioritize their fans’ welfare, and the concert goers for their understanding and support.
“We recognize that a lot of them have traveled far to see their favorite artists. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.,” the company said.
ABS-CBN News said that most of the victims either fainted or sustained bruises, prompting the Pasay City police to ask the concert organizers to suspend the program.
“Too many people came because the concert is for free. It was unexpected. We did not want a stampede,” said Pasay City police chief Noel Flores.
Coca-Cola has been tapping local and foreign artists to participate in its Coke Studios project that aimed to celebrate the growing diversity in music.
Among the artists include Apl de Ap, Sam Concepcion, IV of Spades, Ben and Ben, Khalil Ramos, December Avenue, Quest, Moira and Kriesha Chu.
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