MINERVA BC NEWMAN
TAGBILARAN CITY – A resort in Panglao that held a foam party fashion show recently has sparked widespread public anger and church sermon in Bohol Province due to how they described the show as indecent and breaching health protocols amid the pandemic and that the resort has no accreditation from the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) here.
DOT-7 regional director Shalimar Hofer Tamano in a letter to Bohol governor Arthur Yap dated March 12 said that the Amanzara Resort in Pangalo is not a DOT-accredited entity and it has no accreditation application online to date.
The guidelines also said that the operations of such hotels and accommodation establishments as well as ancillary establishments within their premises such as restaurants, cafes, gyms, spas, function halls, and the like, shall be subject to guidelines issued by the DOT and the IATF.
According to Ven Arigo of the Provincial Information and Media Relations (PRIMER) office that the resort instead advertised two more "foam party fashion shows" which were set on the nights of March 12 and 13.
Arigo said that Yap who is also the chairman of the Bohol Inter-agency Task Force (BIATF) for Emerging Diseases, enjoined the Panglao LGU through Mayor Leonila Montero to order the resort to cease and desist from conducting foam party fashion show immediately upon receipt of his letter, to avoid the recurrence of reported violations of the minimum health and safety protocols for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.
Arigo went on that the governor's act was based on various local government circulars, memoranda and policies for the maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty and property and the promotion of the general welfare of the people.
On the provincial government Facebook page, it said that preventing the spread of the virus is way better than simply catching the resort or the party attendees en flagrante or in the act of violating the health protocols.
“The province understands the need to jumpstart the tourism economy, we are your partner on this cause, but only in proper and decent manner; let alone can we tolerate violations of the law and ordinance under any circumstances," the FB post added.
Panglao mayor Leonila Montero in her written reply told the governor to desist from interfering with the local affair, Arigo bared.
According to Arigo the Panglao controversy stemmed from the Amanzara Resort's foam party during which a woman stripped off and, naked up without bra, romped by the poolside in front of the partygoers and guests.
Videos supposedly taken during the event also
show the "wild" tight crowd without social distancing and face masks
amid the pandemic which caused the widespread public condemnation and church
sermon, Arigo said.
Montero forgave the resort management because it was only a first offense based on the municipal ordinance on pandemic response. Montero was apparently referring to the March 5 and 6 foam parties where she said that there was "no incident exposure" happening on those nights, Arigo added.
According to Arigo that there were videos of the foam parties in March that presented bikini show girls and boys to the delight of the partygoers and others in the crowd who drank, yelled, danced wildly, hugged around without face masks that were circulated and uploaded on social media and a copy was given to a frontline official.
Arigo went on that it was not the first foam party because there were previous parties already capturing repeat patrons. Many resort foam partygoers and guests came from localities in the province outside Panglao, reports said.
There was no report of illegal or party drug use, Arigo added. The resort set two more foam parties last Friday and Saturday nights and the mayor said that they have allowed them to continue under the "close personal and active supervision" of the LGU and herself. (Photos: Google/FB files)
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