The local government of Caloocan City is in a quandary as it readies criminal charges against those liable for the unauthorized operation of a resort in the city that violated quarantine protocols and found out that the resort owner has long been deceased.
Mayor Oca Malapitan said Tuesday that the city is in the process of filing criminal charges against Gubat sa Ciudad Resort in Barangay 171, Bagumbong but they do not know who will be the respondent as the resort's owner had already died.
The resort was owned by the De Guzman family, according to Malapitan.
"Tine-trace na ngayon kung kanino ipapangalan yung demanda (We're still tracing who will be the respondent of our complaint)," the mayor said in a TeleRadyo interview. The charges are for violation of R.A. 11332, the Law on Reporting Communicable Diseases.
Malapitan said city hall officials went to the resort on Monday but did not see anyone from the management there.
"Walang katao-tao (There was no one there)," he said.
He added they would go to the resort's office in Balintawak to try to identify again who will be held liable.
For the meantime, Malapitan said, they will trace the 300 guests who violated quarantine measures by gathering en masse at the resort on Mother's Day.
The guests will not face any liability for now as Malapitan believed they would just "go into hiding."