Makati City official tells Berjaya Hotel management: Don’t play victim

Facade of Makati City Hal. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — “The management should not play the aggrieved victim.”

An official of the Makati City government said this Thursday when sought for their comment on the statement of the Berjaya Hotel management, which expressed opposition to the local government’s closure order on the establishment following the “Poblacion girl” controversy.

In a statement sent to reporters, Makati City Law Department head Atty. Don Camiña answered Berjaya Hotel’s argument on what to do with some 150 guests on quarantine in its establishment should it heed the local government’s closure order.

According to Camiña, “Prior to its closure, Berjaya was already advised to coordinate with the Bureau of Quarantine for the transfer of its remaining guests to other facilities. The city offered to assist if our assistance was needed.”

“Berjaya should not skirt the issue. Its negligence has been established and admitted. Laws have been broken, and the welfare and safety of the community have been put at risk,” Camiña also said.

The Berjaya Hotel management earlier asserted that Makati City’s closure order is “without legal basis,” pointing out that the Department of Tourism gave them 15 days to appeal the agency’s decision to suspend the hotel’s operations after an alleged guest skipped her quarantine.

It also asserted that they must be “accorded due process and be allowed to explain before any penalty is imposed.”

Last week, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat revealed about a returning Filipina from the United States who avoided her quarantine and attended a party at Poblacion, Makati City – thus, a subsequent moniker “Poblacion girl.” The girl was supposed to spend her quarantine days in Berjaya Hotel.

The DOT chief said the girl’s COVID-19 test later yielded positive and appeared to have unwittingly infected others in the party.

KGA