Manila bolts benches to prevent theft

To prevent them from being stolen again, Manila has decided to bolt park benches to the ground.

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said the city government has replaced benches in public parks with ones that can be fastened by bolts to the ground.

This developed after 25 of the 30 benches that line the stretch of Roxas Boulevard were stolen one rainy night last month. After a two-week search, the benches were found in the possession of Maximo Viola, a restaurateur in Malate, who admitted stealing them for fun.

Dino Nable of the Manila City Hall-Tourism Affairs said though they anticipated the stealing of benches, the city government still opted to use movable-type wooden benches with steel stands while looking for heavy-duty types.

"We know the wooden benches would not last long so we didn’t screw them to the ground. But we also couldn’t just put benches made up of steel near the seawall because the water of Manila Bay is salty and it could easily cause rust," Nable said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe