PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar yesterday said hundreds of people who went to the Gubat sa Ciudad Resort in Caloocan City last Sunday violated health protocols and will be held accountable.
Eleazar said he may forgive the violators if they were trying to find food for their families or were attending a religious gathering to pray for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic “but it was not the case.”
“There were hundreds of you who went out to enjoy in the middle of the pandemic in an area under MECQ and even brought your children with you,” he said.
Under MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine), the current quarantine classification in the National Capital Region Plus bubble, resorts are not allowed to operate.
“If we are going to allow them to just say ‘sorry’, it will send a wrong message to others because you will be forgiven and you will not be held accountable for what you did,” Eleazar said, adding some of those who went to the resort even beat the cameraman of a television network.
“With what they did, where is the immediate reflection that what they did was wrong? Our investigation is ongoing with regard to this incident,” Eleazar said as he urged the public to follow minimum health safety standards.
He added that former Police Community Precinct 9 commander Maj. Harold Aaron Melgar will be investigated to determine his administrative culpability for failing to enforce minimum health safety protocols in his area of responsiblity.
Eleazar said Melgar, who was relieved from his post last Tuesday, will be given due process.
“But if the result of the probe shows that there is negligence on his part, he will definitely be charged,” said Eleazar.
The Caloocan City police station is also conducting an investigation to determine the criminal liability of the owners and operators of the resort and of barangay chairman Romeo Rivera.
