GWYNETH Anne Chua, infamous as “Poblacion Girl” who skipped mandatory quarantine protocols last December after a trip to the United States and later tested positive for COVID-19, yesterday pleaded guilty before the Makati city regional trial court where she had been charged for violating the law on mandatory reporting of notifiable diseases.
Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 128 Judge Maureen Rubio-Marquez ordered Chua to pay a fine of P20,000, according to Makati City Prosecutor Rafael Rodrigo Esguera.
In yesterday legal proceeding, Chia pleaded guilty to violation of Section 9 (d) of Republic Act 11332, or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, and for “defying the directives of the authorities on mandatory quarantine.”
The law imposes a fine ranging from P20,000 to P50,000, and imprisonment for one to six months or both.
To justify the court’s sanction, Esguera said: “She apologized to the court and the public for the hassle she caused.”
To recall, Chua was supposed to be quarantined at the Berjaya Hotel in Makati upon her arrival from the US on December 22, 2021 as part of compliance with health protocols to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Under government protocols being enforced at the time, all inbound passengers are mandated to undergo quarantine in government-designated facilities and are allowed to check out only after a negative RT-PCR test. However, they need to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine period at home.
On December 23, Chua was seen attending a party with friends in Poblacion, Makati.
Three days later she tested positive for COVID-19.
In a related development, the case against security guard Esteban Gatbonton will continue as he earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Gatbonton was a security officer at the Berjaya Hotel who was charged “for assisting the escape of Gwyneth to leave the hotel premises.”
Gatbonton’s lawyer, Jose Bernas, said he is confident Chua’s guilty plea will not affect his client’s case since it is a separate case.
“The prosecution still has to prove that the security guard has the obligation and the power to detain a person under quarantine,” Bernas explained.
Earlier, the Makati city prosecutors’ office junked the case against Chua’s parents and her boyfriend, Rico Atienza, due to insufficient evidence to establish that they violated the provisions of RA 11332.
Also dismissed by the prosecutors’ office were the complaints against Berjaya Makati Hotel Resident Manager Gladiolyn Biala, Assistant Front Office Manager Salvador Sabayo, Security Manager Tito Arboleda, and Front Desk Counter Personnel Hannah Araneta.
Other high-profile cases of quarantine breaches at the height of the pandemic include that of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III who accompanied his pregnant wife to the Makati Medical Center despite showing symptoms of the virus.
