MANILA – The Department of Tourism (DOT) has suspended the accreditation of a Makati hotel and revoked its authorization as a multiple-use hotel for failing to prevent a guest from violating quarantine protocols.
In a news release on Wednesday, the DOT said Berjaya Makati Hotel was also penalized twice the rack rate for its most expensive room.
The DOT’s Tourism Regulation, Coordination and Resource Generation approved the penalties recommended by the DOT – National Capital Region.
The issue originated from the actions of returning Filipino Gwyneth Chua, dubbed “Poblacion Girl” on social media because she was seen in Poblacion, Makati City, when she was supposed to be in the quarantine hotel.
In their reply dated January 1, Berjaya admitted that CCTV footage showed Chua leaving the hotel at 11:45 p.m., or 15 minutes after checking in upon her arrival on December 22.
Even after her return three days later, neither the hotel security nor the front lobby called her attention, and no attempt was made to report the incident to the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).
She was later spotted in social media posts at a bar in Poblacion.
Chua, who was scheduled to stay at the hotel for a mandatory five-day quarantine until December 27, later returned on the night of December 25. On December 26, she had a swab test. The next day, her test result was positive.
A copy of the decision was served to Berjaya Hotel, which has 15 working days to appeal it.
The department’s decision has been given to the Department of Health (DOH), BOQ, One-Stop Shop Management of Returning Overseas Filipinos of the Department of Transportation – Office of Transportation Security (DOTr- OTS), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Makati local government unit (LGU).
Berjaya even assured in their letter dated December 28 that quarantined guests “follow strict protocols”.
However, Berjaya later apologized in news reports and social media for their failure to report the “quarantine skipping incident” to the BOQ.
The hotel management’s statements and public apology were “an admission of not just the facts of the incident but as well as their lapses in their responsibility as an accredited establishment of the Department of Tourism,” the decision read.
bossa nova jazz