No BFP confab in Boracay on June 12-14, probe team says

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

The supposed conference attended by Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Region 6 personnel was non-existent.

This is what the BFP’s seven-person investigating team learned on the alleged unauthorized entry of 28 BFP-6 personnel in Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan from June 12 to 14, 2020.

The 28 BFP personnel are under fire for attending a supposed conference, which was later revealed to a despedida party.

The unauthorized entry of the personnel violated quarantine protocols amid the modified general community quarantine in Western Visayas.

The supposed illegal entry was exposed after a BFP-6 officer who tested positive for COVID-19 went with the group, despite the fact that she was supposed to be on a 14-day quarantine.

Atty. Archie Andumang, chief of the BFP-Internal Affairs Service and the team’s lead investigator, said they found no record to support claims that a conference took place in Boracay.

“Based on the evidences and records at hand, wala kaming nakuhang order or documents pertaining to a conference that will be held in Boracay,” he said, adding that the national headquarters also did not issue any memorandum relative to the holding of a conference.

Earlier, it was assumed that the BFP personnel attended the June 11 conference of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) for the re-opening of the island to local tourists on June 16.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, BIATF chairperson, attended the meeting, along with Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

But Natividad Bernardino, Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Management Group general manager, said the BFP was not in attendance or even invited to the conference.

Meanwhile, Andumang confirmed that a memorandum to explain or show cause order was sent to the 28 personnel on June 29, the day they arrived in Iloilo City.

But no one has yet submitted a reply to the memorandum.

“Their comment should be under oath. It should be subscribed. But with or without their reply, we would go on with our investigation,” Andumang said.

It was gathered that the team reached Caticlan in Malay, Aklan on June 24 via Ro-Ro from Batangas.

They proceeded to Boracay Island to secure documents, CCTV footages, and statement from the local BFP personnel in the area.

They also visited Malay town Mayor Floribar Bautista and requested documents relative to the investigation.

They also proceeded to Hue Hotels and Resort Boracay, the hotel where the BFP group was billeted. The probe team also requested for documents, which the management provided.

Andumang said they proceeded to Anini-y, Antique, where the group allegedly stayed in a resort before going to Boracay.

After Antique, they proceeded to Iloilo City and talked to Mayor Jerry Treñas and Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, Iloilo City’s COVID-19 focal person.

The team also requested documents and took statements from sources. They went back to Metro Manila on July 3.

Andumang said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has given them 15 days, or until July 21, to submit their investigation report.

“We’re still waiting for other documents that we have requested but we would try to finish the report on time,” he said.