QUARANTINE BREACH

Makati closes Berjaya; hotel says order 'without legal basis'

The Makati City government on Thursday served the closure order to Berjaya Hotel in Makati City after the Department of Tourism (DOT) suspended the its accreditation for failing to stop a guest from breaking quarantine policy.

Personnel of the City Hall's Business Permits and Licensing Office put a closure order on Berjaya on Thursday afternoon.

In a statement, Attorney Don Camiña, Makati city legal officer, said the DOT fined the hotel P13,200 and suspended its accreditation for three months.

The closure also stemmed from the government guidelines that only DOT-accredited hotels are allowed to operate amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Camiña said.

"Considering that Berjaya's DOT Accreditation has been suspended, City is closing it since only hotels with DOT accreditation can operate at this time under relevant DOT and IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) guidelines," he said.

Berjaya Hotel was suspended following its failure to halt and report Gwyneth Chua, a returning Filipino from the United States, from skipping quarantine in December.

The hotel already asked DOT for kindness as it vowed that it will not tolerate quarantine skippers and other health protocol violators. 

Chua, her parents, boyfriend and five Berjaya Hotel personnel are facing a complaint for violation of Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act. 

'Without legal basis'

Meanwhile, Berjaya Hotel cried foul over the serving of the closure order, saying it was without basis.

"The order by the Makati City Hall closing down Berjaya Makati Hotel’s operations based on the suspension order issued by the Department of Tourism is without legal basis," it said in a statement.

It said the DOT's order is not yet final because a 15-day period is given for an appeal.

"Meanwhile, the suspension is not in effect. Secondly, there is no law that penalizes a hotel for not reporting a guest who jumps quarantine," the hotel said.

"There is nothing in R.A. (Republic Act) 13322 that is applicable to the hotel," it added.

The hotel also demanded that due process must be made before the closure order.

"Thirdly, we must be accorded due process and be allowed to explain before any penalty is imposed. We have not been given our day in court by the Makati City Hall," it said.

Moreover, they said if their hotel was padlocked, they could not continue the quarantine of their present guests.

"On the operations level, if we close down the hotel immediately, where do we send our present quarantine guests? We have 18 guests who have tested positive and who have yet to be pulled out by the Bureau of Quarantine, and 80 who are in the middle of their quarantine," it said.

"We also have around 20 quarantine guests per week coming in and have paid in advance. The inconvenience to the public is incalculable, unnecessary and preventable," it added.

Violations established

In a follow-up statement, Camiña said the Berjaya hotel should not "play the victim" in the closure order, adding that the hotel already violated laws.

"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 has been put at risk," he said in reaction to the hotel's statement.

"The management should not play the aggrieved victim," Camiña added.

Camiña said  the city hall also asked the hotel if it needed any assistance.

"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," he said.—KBK, GMA News