DOT suspends Berjaya Makati Hotel accreditation over ‘Poblacion girl’

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Wednesday, January 5, suspended the accreditation of Berjaya Makati Hotel in Makati City over the quarantine breach involving a Filipino traveler who returned from the United States.

The DOT also revoked Berjaya’s permit as a multiple-use hotel and imposed a fine “equivalent to twice the rack rate of its most expensive room.”

The traveler, identified as Gwyneth Chua, skipped quarantine at Berjaya and partied in Poblacion, Makati City. She later tested positive for COVID-19 and so did several of her companions.

The DOT said Berjaya’s CCTV footage showed Chua leaving the hotel at 11:45 pm on December 22, or 15 minutes after she checked in supposedly for five-day quarantine until December 27.

“Neither did the hotel security personnel nor the front lobby call her attention, and neither was there any effort to report the incident to the Bureau of Quarantine, even after her return three days later. She was later seen in social media posts at a bar in Poblacion,” the tourism department said.

Chua returned to the hotel on the night of December 25 and underwent an RT-PCR test on December 26. Her test results were released on December 27.

The DOT said Berjaya, in its December 29 letter to the tourism department, “even gave the assurance that quarantined guests ‘follow strict protocols.'” But it “later apologized in news reports and social media” for failure to report the quarantine breach to authorities.

The DOT said the hotel admitted “not just the facts of the incident” but also its “lapses.”

Berjaya has 15 working days to appeal the DOT’s decision. It earlier said it would punish errant employees involved in the quarantine breach. – Rappler.com