THE Department of Tourism (DOT) has suspended the accreditation for two months of City Garden Grand Hotel (CGGH), the venue of the New Year’s Eve party that resulted in the controversial death of flight attendant Christine Dacera.
This follows after Office of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat (DOT-Osec), “[affirmed] with modification the resolution of TRCRG (Tourism Regulation Coordination and Resources Generation) dated 14 January 2021 finding CGGH liablefor gross and evident bad faith in dealing with clients/fraudulent solicitation of business from clients under Section 13.2 (c) of DOT Memorandum Circular No. 2018-02.” The memo refers to the Progressive Accreditation System of the government agency for tourism enterprises.
In a DOT briefer released to select media, DOT-Osec shortened the suspension of the hotel’s accreditation to two months from three months, and fined it P10,000, “in consideration of its appeal on behalf of its employees,” who would be out of work. DOT-Osec also put on record a stern warning to the hotel “that any further violation of whatever nature of applicable rules shall be dealt with accordingly.”
The DOT-Osec order was received by the hotel management on February 9, according to Undersecretary for Legal and Special Concerns Edwin Enrile.
Contacted by the BusinessMirror, a hotel operator on Tuesday said the establishment had been closed “since last week,” and will continue to be closed “for months.” It referred guests to its sister hotel, City Garden Hotel, in the same area of Makati City. The hotel is owned by businesswoman, Jeanette Lim Macasieb.
The hotel had appealed the Jan.14 ruling of the DOT-TRCRG’s ruling, citing lack of due process, among others.
Staycation promos despite lockdown
But the DOT-Osec ruled that there was “no violation of CGGH’s right to due process,” stressing that, in DOT-National Capital Region’s Supplemental Show Cause Order, it clearly cited the hotel’s “apparent misrepresentation that it may accommodate clients and guests for leisure purposes despite being a quarantine facility.” Clearly, CGGH was given the opportunity to explain its side relative to making “false, deceptive, or misleading claims or statements” in its accommodation of guests “for leisure purposes despite being a quarantine facility.”
DOT-Osec added the hotel could have just taken down staycation promotional materials that were still up on the latter’s website, which were “accessible to the public, and misleading to the public.” The hotel claimed the promos were put there in February 2020, prior to the lockdown.
The hotel also said it was unaware of the people swimming on its rooftop pool and a bridal entourage getting ready inside the hotel room, the screenshots of which were attached in DOT’s investigation report. “Assuming that it is true…then this would either mean that CGGH either accepted non-permitted guests, or it has utterly failed to implement health and safety protocols.”
Lastly, DOT-Osec was not convinced that CGGH exercised due diligence over the supervision of its employees when it allegedly conducted regular briefings and trainings on health and safety protocols, citing housekeeping staff brought in additional beds into the guest room, and that there was no CCTV operator at the time of the incident. “CGGH may not simply exonerate itself from the actions of its employees at its convenience.”
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