DOT revokes authority to operate of hotel in Dacera case

The City Garden Grand Hotel (CGGH) in Makati, the hotel where flight attendant Christine Dacera was found dead, will no longer be allowed to operate after the Department of Tourism (DOT) revoked its certificate of authority to operate due to fraudulent solicitation of business.

According to the DOT, the CGGH was found to “have misrepresented itself to the public as being allowed to accommodate guests for leisure or staycation purposes despite being a quarantine facility.”

“The DOT… finds the CGGH in Makati City liable for the offense of gross and evident bad faith in dealing with clients/fraudulent solicitation of business or making any false, deceptive, or misleading claims or statements for the purpose of soliciting business from clients,” the DOT said in a statement.

The Tourism Department said it considered evidence found in the case of Dacera, who was found unresponsive in a bathtub in the hotel on January 1 after celebrating New Year with her friends.

“The pieces of evidence showed that even prior to the incident and until now, the CGGH is marketing packages to accept leisure guests and never indicated that it is a quarantine hotel,” it said.

Amid the pandemic, several hotels in the country have been turned into quarantine facilities for persons under investigation for COVID-19 to help ease the burden of hospitals.

Meanwhile, the hotel was also fined P10,000 and its DOT accreditation suspended for six months.

The CGGH may appeal within the period prescribed by the DOT, according to the agency.

DOT warns AEs

Due to the incident, the DOT warned all accredited accommodation establishments (AEs) to limit their operations to the authority given to them.

“This is to reiterate that AEs repurposed as quarantine facilities cannot offer their rooms and facilities for leisure purposes.  At the same time, staycation hotels shall not be used for quarantine,” it said.

The DOT said only four to five-star AEs may operate as staycation hotels.

At present, the 15 AEs allowed to operate in Metro Manila are the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Okada Manila Hotel, Shangri-La at the Fort, Nobu Hotel, Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila, EDSA Shangri-La Manila, Solaire Resort, Hyatt Regency City of Dreams, Nuwa Hotel City of Dreams, The Peninsula Manila, Aruga by Rockwell, Sheraton Manila Hotel, Hilton Manila and Hotel Okura Manila. — BM, GMA News