CHR-7 conducts own probe into Mactan resort

Plantation Bay Resort and Spa

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) has confirmed that their agency will be conducting its own investigation of the alleged discrimination reported in a high-end resort in Cebu.

Lawyer Arvin Odron, director of CHR-7, told CDN Digital in a text message that he had instructed their Investigation Division last December 8, 2020 to start a formal inquiry on the incident.

“I learned about it two days ago… and immediately directed the Investigation Division to get in touch with the mother and the management of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa,” said Odron.

READ MORE: ‘I have no plans to sue Plantation Bay’; mother in viral post

Odron also said they had assigned a special investigator to handle the case and begin the formal inquiry.

“Initial report will be available soon,” he added.

Several government agencies have also initiated their own investigations on the incident involving Plantation Bay Resort and Spa and Mai Pages.

Pages, a mother of a child with special needs, left a one-star review for the Mactan-based resort in TripAdvisor last December 7 and reported that they experienced discriminatory measures from the establishment’s staff and management.

Manny Gonzalez, a resident shareholder of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, replied to Pages’ review but received the ire of the netizens who said he handled it ‘poorly’.

Gonzalez issued a public apology on December 8, or a day after Pages’ review went viral online.

The Department of Tourism (DOT), together with the Department of Justice (DOJ), has already started a probe into the matter. Aside from that, groups promoting the welfare of persons with disabilities (PWDs) also criticized Gonzalez for his poor handling of the Pages’ incident. /dbs

READ MORE: DOT coordinating with DOJ in probe of Cebu resort for ‘discrimination’