TAGBILARAN CITY—The provincial government on Friday (March 12) directed the mayor of the tourist town of Panglao to order a resort there to drop plans to hold a foam party in which participants dance while surrounded by suds or bubbles.
Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap said Alamanza Resort has no accreditation from the Department of Tourism (DOT) which was needed for leisure establishments to operate during a state of public health emergency. President Rodrigo Duterte in May 2020 declared a nationwide state of public health emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains in effect.
The governor said guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Diseases (IATF) allowed only hotels and other tourist establishments with DOT accreditation to operate during the state of public health emergency.
In a memo, Yap said he was exercising his power as governor and chair of the Bohol IATF in directing Panglao Mayor Leonila Montero to stop the resort from pushing through with the foam party.
The governor said the order was being given “to avoid the recurrence of reported violations of minimum health and safety protocols” to prevent the transmission of SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The order, Yap said, was for the mayor’s “strict compliance.”