DOT affirms suspension order vs. Berjaya Hotel but reduces it to 2 months

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has affirmed its earlier ruling suspending the accreditation of Berjaya Makati Hotel, after its guest dubbed as “Poblacion girl” skipped quarantine to party.

READ: Department of Tourism affirms its ruling against Berjaya Makati Hotel, but reduced the suspension of the hotel’s accreditation for two months from the earlier imposed three-month suspension. The fine of P13,200 was maintained. pic.twitter.com/xWevEXgiK2

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) January 26, 2022

In a notice of resolution dated January 19 addressed to Makati Mayor Abby Binay, DOT National Capital Region officer-in-charge Regional Director Sharlene Zabala-Batin said the agency affirmed with modification its earlier ruling against the hotel and found it “liable for violation of government health and safety protocols.”

The DOT, however, reduced Berjaya Makati’s suspension of accreditation to two months instead of three.

Early this month, the Tourism department suspended the accreditation of the hotel after a guest, identified as Gwyneth Chua, skipped quarantine at the establishment to party and later on tested positive for COVID-19.

The DOT also revoked Berjaya’s permit as a multiple-use hotel for its failure to stop a guest from breaking quarantine rules.

In its latest resolution, the agency maintained its order revoking Berjaya Makati’s authority to operate as a multi-purpose hotel or those that can accommodate both quarantine and staycation guests.

It also maintained the P13,200 fine slapped against the company.

GMA News Online reached out to Berjaya Makati for comment, but no response has been received yet as of posting time.

The DOT's modified order came after the hotel appealed the earlier ruling that found it liable for violating health and safety protocols jointly crafted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the Tourism department.

"Under IATF Guidelines on the Nationwide Implementation of Alert Level  System for COVID-19, Response, as of December 14, 2021, Section 1 (5) states that only hotels or accommodation establishments with valid DOT Accreditation shall be allowed to accommodate guests and clients subject to guidelines issued by the Department of Tourism and the IATF," the DOT said in its letter.

Stating that DOT’s order is now “executory”, the agency requested Binay to take appropriate action in relation to the suspension of Berjaya Makati Hotel’s business permit.

Earlier, the city government padlocked Berjaya Makati Hotel based on the original DOT ruling which the hotel promptly appealed.—AOL, GMA News