PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The city government has asked the management of a resort operating near the Underground River to settle with the family of a woman who drowned while on a family vacation in the resort late last year.
City tourism officer Rebecca Labit said they are also awaiting the final recommendation from the city legal office which is looking into possible sanctions against Sheridan Beach Resort and Spa for the death of Ma. Cecily de Guzman, a resort guest, in December last year.
The victim’s family is pressing authorities to impose stiff sanctions, such as closure of the facility, complaining that Sheridan had inadequate safety measures that could have prevented the accident.
De Guzman, a widow and mother of two children, drowned while swimming at sea in front of the resort along with a group of other resort guests, who all had figured in the accident when they were swept into deeper waters by a tide surge.
“This matter was supposed to have been settled by the resort with the (victim’s) family but it seemed the resort had not been too keen to resolve this,” Labit told the Inquirer.
She added that City Mayor Edward Hagedorn had offered to help the management of Sheridan meet some of the demands for compensation made by the family “just to expedite the matter.”
“The resort seems to have been lax in at least comforting the grieving family and has not been accepting responsibility for what happened,” Labit said.
An investigation conducted by the Department of Tourism (DOT) at the behest of the victim’s family indicated that the resort, which had just opened when the accident occurred, had no life-saving equipment.
According to the DOT report, the absence of a life-saving equipment in the ambulance that carried the victim to a hospital in the city, which was at least 80 kilometers away, contributed to the failure to save the victim’s life.
The Inquirer called the resort several times to get its side but received no reply. Labit, however, clarified that the city was not inclined to order the resort’s closure.