THE precinct commander of the Caloocan City police that has jurisdiction over the Gubat sa Ciudad Resort which illegally opened its doors to about 300 customers last Sunday has been relieved, according to city police chief Col. Samuel Mina.
Mina said Lt. Col. Harold Aaron Melgar was replaced by Lt. Col. Ronald Batalla. Mina added that all precinct commanders in the city need to know their areas of responsibility to prevent a repeat of the Gubat sa Ciudad incident, in which health protocols on mass gathering and social distancing were violated.
Meanwhile, the city’s Health Office and Business Permit and Licensing Office yesterday asked the city’s Sanguniang Panglungsod or city council to suspend barangay chairman Romeo Rivera, who has jurisdiction over the resort.
The two offices asked the council to suspend Rivera for 60 days for gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for failing to prevent the mass gathering.
Rivera is also facing investigation by the Caloocan City police and local government for possible administrative and criminal charges. The owners and operators of the resort are also facing a similar probe.
The Department of Tourism, upon verification, said the resort has been operating with DOT accreditation, an assurance that a tourism enterprise has complied with the minimum standards for the operation of tourism facilities and services.
Mina directed the city’s precinct commanders to inspect establishments, coordinate with stakeholders and local government officials and strictly enforce minimum health standards set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
As of yesterday, Mina said they were still finalizing the charges against the owners and operators of the resort and Rivera.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said it’s up to investigators to determine if charges would be pursued against Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan.
“In the investigation, the PNP will look into everything, including the actions made. It will come out there if there if he had a failure,” said Año.
Año, however, said he was satisfied with Malapitan’s handling of the situation.
“As far as I can see, he has done all the appropriate actions that an LCE (local chief executive) has to do to address the situation,” he said.
Año noted that Malapitan sent a team to the resort when he received initial information about the illegal opening and the violation of health protocols. When the violation was confirmed, Año said Malapitan ordered the closure of the resort and revoked the resort’s business permit.
Año said Malapitan also ordered an investigation preparatory to the filing of criminal cases against the resort owners and the barangay chairman; ordered contact tracing and COVID-19 testing after the incident, and reported the incident to the DILG immediately.
“So that’s a very good action. If he failed to do that after one day, he has culpability but in fairness to him, he did what he has to do,” said Año.
“You cannot blame everything on the mayor. The mayor will be at fault if he did nothing immediately when he learned about it, if he failed to correct the situation. I’m satisfied with his action,” he said.
During President Duterte’s television address on Monday night, Año informed the Chief Executive that the PNP and the Caloocan City government are preparing charges against the owners of the resort.
Año also said he spoke with Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for the crafting of guidelines to strengthen the implementation of protocols on mass gathering and non-wearing of face mask.
