ILOILO CITY—Business operators in Boracay slammed the “despedida” (farewell party) held by a group from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) on the resort island on June 12 after one of those who attended the gathering turned out positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The party breached health protocols as it was held a few days before Boracay reopened to local tourists after a three-month lockdown due to the health crisis. As a result, more than 200 people—196 BFP personnel from its provincial and regional offices in Iloilo City and 33 hotel employees and boatmen in Boracay—were put at risk of infection.
“We condemn the breach of protocol and those responsible must be held accountable,” Elena Brugger, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Boracay, told the Inquirer.
Brugger said the “irresponsible” breach of protocols had harmed efforts of the community to bring back the confidence of tourists amid the pandemic.On Wednesday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered the relief of 28 personnel of the BFP in Western Visayas, including their chief, Senior Supt. Roderick Aguto.
“[This] one incident … caused a lot of inconvenience and put … the lives of these people [at risk]. So I relieved the [BFP] regional director, including those who participated in that incident in Boracay from June 12 to 14,” Año said over ABS-CBN news channel on Thursday.
The 26-year-old female BFP employee who tested positive for the virus was among those who went to Boracay Island in batches on June 11 and 12, purportedly for a conference.
Officials of the Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group (BIARMG) led by Año, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat visited the island on the same date. But the
BIARMG said the BFP was not part of the meeting.
“No BFP representative was in the meeting nor was the agency invited to the meeting because it is not a member of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force,” said Natividad Bernardino, BIARMG general manager, in a statement on Thursday.
“I was given specific instructions by Secretary Cimatu to limit the number of participants in the meeting,” she said.
Records from the regional health department showed that the BFP group arrived on June 12, a day after the task force meeting took place. They reportedly claimed they were on the island to attend the conference.
But Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, in a separate interview, said he was informed that the BFP group held a “despedida party” in a hotel on the island and that Aguto attended the event. No official, however, could say for whom the farewell party was held.
Wasted effort
Brugger said the action of the BFP team “wasted the community’s sacrifices in following protocols and rules under three months of lockdown and we are all concerned here.”
Acting Mayor Frolibar Bautista of Malay, Aklan, said the incident had affected efforts of the town to bring back tourists.
Madel Joy Tayco, spokesperson for the interagency task force on COVID-19 of Malay, said on Thursday 58 people with possible contact or in proximity with the infected person had been traced and 53 of them had been quarantined. They underwent tests on Thursday.
Puyat on Thursday said the Department of Tourism, after consulting its legal team, revoked the accreditation of the Boracay hotel where the group of 24 to 28 people, mostly from the BFP, stayed from June 12 to 14. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEROME ANING AND JHESSET O. ENANO