WE received a letter from a grieving sister of a drowning victim in Sheridan Beach Resort and Spa in Barangay Sabang, Puerto Princesa, Palawan City. After a thorough investigation of the incident, the Department of Tourism (DOT) found Sheridan Beach Resort guilty of negligence and recommended that it be sanctioned.
However, until now, the local government of Puerto Princesa City headed by Mayor Edward Hagedorn has refused to act positively on DOT’s recommendation.
Here is the letter of Dra. Corina Azores-Macalintal, sister of the drowning victim, Cecile Azores–de Guzman, which we are printing in full.
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November 5, 2011
Atty. Dodo Dulay
Columnist
The Manila Times
Dear Atty. Dulay,
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and acknowledge our plea for justice.
Last December 23, 2010, our sister, Ma. Cecile Azores-de Guzman, drowned in Sheridan Beach Resort and Spa in Sabang Beach, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Her loss a few days before Christmas devastated our whole family.
Just to give a short background of what happened, seven of us almost drowned and my sister died while we were supposed to be enjoying a well-planned family reunion in Sheridan Beach Resort. We were swept away by the strong beach undertow which we did not know about because there were no adequate warnings in the resort.
I specifically chose the resort because of the advertised 5-star accommodations. It was not really for us but for balikbayan relatives who joined us. Safety had always been our primary concern. People we talked to from Sheridan Beach Resort knew that from the start.
We believe that Sheridan Beach Resort is responsible for our sister’s death and the trauma that our family has suffered up to this time. After the incident, the Department of Tourism (DOT) conducted an investigation and found Sheridan Beach Resort guilty of negligence. The DOT recommended that the resort be penalized by the local government of Puerto Princesa. Much to our dismay, the Puerto Princesa city government has not acted on my sister’s death, almost a year now after the incident.
To add insult to injury, the Puerto Princesa city government came out with a one-sided report which did not even take into account the findings of the DOT or our side of the story since they never even talked to us. It seems they conveniently forgot that we are the victims here. It is very sad and hurtful to see a lopsided report based on narrations of people who were not even there while we were drowning.
If not for our balikbayan cousin (a soldier) who saved three children from drowning and the boatmen who helped my other nephew, and my brother-in-law who had to call the lifeguard, I cannot imagine how much worse it would have ended.
Because of what happened, we were not able to celebrate Christmas last year. Most of us developed post-traumatic stress disorder. We could not sleep; flashbacks were so vivid that it became a daily nightmare. We could not eat, work and felt very depressed. Some of us had to undergo stress debriefing with a psychiatrist while my other relatives had to take anti-depressants and anxiolytics. We tried hard to block out this tragedy from our memory. But how could we when we just visited her grave last November 1, 2011 and we will again be commemorating her first death anniversary two days before Christmas?
We only seek justice for what happened to our sister who left 2 orphaned children. No one can bring our sister back. No one and nothing can replace her. Our lives, especially those of her children, will never be the same again. Overnight, our world turned upside down all because of the negligence of Sheridan Beach Resort. But to this day, Sheridan Beach Resort refuses to admit any responsibility for my sister’s death. We cannot move on until we get the justice my sister deserves.
For all the support and prayers we are getting from people we do not even know, we thank you very much! They mean a lot to us. And for those of you who are making it harder for us to move on by hurting us more with what you are saying, I hope you know what you are doing. We hope you find it in your heart to at least seek the truth. It will truly set us all free.
God Bless us all.
(Sgd) Corina Azores-Macalintal
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In the interest of fairness and justice, I hope Mayor Hagedorn finally acts on DOT’s recommendation and soon. If the honorable mayor cannot do justice to his city’s visitors by teaching negligent resorts like Sheridan a lesson or two, then he should stop promoting Puerto Princesa as a tourist destination – and so save other families (and tourists) a lot of grief.
