MANILA — Charges are being readied against the owner of a Caloocan City resort and the barangay chairman of the village where it was located for violating modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) protocols.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar said they wanted the incident to serve as a lesson and warning to establishments, owners and managements and also to barangay chairmen.
“They have to justify bakit nahayaan na mangyari ‘yan,” Eleazar said in a press briefing on Monday.
Eleazar added that they would also study the possibility of charging those who went swimming at the Gubat sa Ciudad resort on Mother’s Day (May 9) as mass gatherings like that were prohibited in areas under MECQ.
In a video footage from ONE News on Sunday afternoon, dozens of individuals, including children, were seen swimming in the pools of the Caloocan City resort.
On Sunday evening, Caloocan City mayor Oscar Malapitan immediately ordered the closure of Gubat sa Ciudad resort. A Business Permit Revocation Notice was also served.
Meanwhile, Malacañang warned the public against mass gatherings like swimming this summer to prevent a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) similar to India’s.
“Uulitin ko po: bawal pa ang pagtitipon-tipon. Ganito ang nangyari sa India. ‘Wag natin hayaang mangyari sa mahal nating bayan,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in his virtual presser on Monday.
“Naiintindihan po natin na mainit ang panahon at marami ang sabik maligo, lumangoy at magpalamig. Ngunit hindi naman dapat ito maging dahilan para hindi natin sundin ang guidelines,” he added./PN
