113 Makati bar-goers freed

MANILA, Philippines — The 113 people arrested at a Makati City bar for allegedly violating quarantine protocols were released on Tuesday evening after a prosecutor dismissed most of the charges against them.

Makati police chief Police Col. Oscar Jacildo said that the city prosecutor’s office dismissed the complaint for resistance and disobedience to persons in authority as well as the violation of quarantine protocols, including physical distancing and a ban on mass gatherings, laid out in a city ordinance.

On the other hand, the prosecutor set for further investigation the charge of violation of Section 9, Republic Act No. 11332, or the law on the mandatory reporting of notifiable disease and health events of public concern. The preliminary investigation was scheduled for July 7.

Among those released after two days of being detained at the gym of Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo was TV personality KC Montero.

In a tweet on his official Twitter account on Tuesday night, Montero said he would reveal what happened to them “in the next couple of days,” adding that “a lot of assumptions [about their arrest were] completely untrue.”

Not 121

The police earlier clarified that only 113 people, instead of 121, were arrested on June 28 during a raid on Skye, a posh lounge bar at the roof deck of M1 Tower on H.V. dela Costa Street in Salcedo Village, Barangay Bel-Air.

The 94 Filipinos and 19 foreigners, the police said, were “caught in the act [of] drinking liquor [at each] table, [and] several of them were violating social distancing.”

Bars are not yet allowed to resume operations in areas under general community quarantine like Makati City.

Skye was shut down on Monday by the city’s business permits and licensing office (BPLO) upon the order of Mayor Abby Binay, according to city legal officer and spokesperson Michael Camiña.

He said the bar management violated Executive Order No. 11, RA 11332, and the Makati Revenue Code for failing to submit a notice of reopening.