Sting the environmentalist drops MOA Arena as concert venue
Agence France-Presse, InterAksyon.com
October 20, 2012

MANILA — Rock superstar Sting, a known environmentalist, has forced organizers to move his planned one-night concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena to another venue in response to a lobby by local environmental activists.

The Manila leg of the British singer’s “Back to Bass Tour” on December 9 will now be hosted by Smart Araneta Coliseum, said his official website.

Earlier in the day, the local concert promoters informed the MOA Arena that Sting had called off his show there, Arena general manager Arnel Gonzales said.

Sting announced his decision after learning that pine trees growing outside SM Baguio, which is owned by the same holding company that owns the MOA Arena, were being removed for an expansion program, Gonzales added.

“Somebody misled the Englishman In New York over the venue,” Gonzales told AFP, referring to one of the British-born star’s hit songs.

Gonzales said that while Arena and SM Baguio are sister companies, the concert venue had nothing to do with the trees’ transfer.

Environmentalists had sued SM Baguio earlier this year to stop the uprooting and relocation of 182 old trees, mostly pines, growing at its property.

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