LAWMAKER DENIES PROTOCOL BREACH IN CEBU BEACH PARTY
CEBU CITY—A Cebuano congressman has denied violating health protocols during a beach party he hosted in San Francisco town on Camotes Islands, Cebu, on July 10 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rep. Duke Frasco of Cebu’s fifth district welcomed any investigation that would be conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), as he maintained he had documents to prove they did not violate any protocol during their party.
Frasco, son-in-law of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, said the party had the prior approval from concerned government agencies.
He said they also coordinated with the local government, the police, barangay officials, village watchmen and health workers to make sure participants followed the health protocols to stop the spread of the virus.
“All 667 bikers and runners were required to fill out health declaration forms and undergo temperature checks before the event, as well as wear masks during the event. All participants were continuously reminded by the organizers before and during the event to follow necessary health/safety protocols and guidelines including wearing of masks and social distancing,” he said in a statement on Aug. 20.
Anonymous complaint
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar ordered separate probes on the incident after an “anonymous complainant” informed the DILG on Aug. 13 about the beach party that followed the Team Frasco Friendship Run/Ride event held on July 10 in San Francisco town.
A video of the event, which went viral on social media, showed people not wearing face masks and not observing physical distancing while partying.
In his statement, Frasco explained that the venue of the closing ceremonies was a wide area at the beach in Santiago Bay, which could accommodate approximately 25,000 people.
The event, he said, only had 667 registered participants, which was way below the 50-percent venue capacity allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
As part of the closing ceremony, dance tributes were performed by Cebu artists, local youth groups, and the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community of Camotes.
The local performers invited Frasco to dance with them, which the congressman said he was “more than happy to oblige, seeing the effort these young people had put in.”
No infection
Frasco disputed the claim of the anonymous complaint that many people got infected with COVID-19 following the event.
“Records from the Department of Health and the local government show that from July 11 to 25, there was no significant increase of COVID-19 cases in the municipality,” he said.
Frasco added that contact tracing would show that none of the persons who tested positive for COVID-19 were participants of the Team Frasco Friendship Ride/Run event.