CLARK FREEPORT—The parents of a 7-year-old girl who died of drowning in one of the pools at the Holiday Inn here last April 19 scored the hotel’s management for supposed lack of emergency response unit, delayed medical attention and for invoking a policy in which guests who meet accidents in its premises are not covered by insurance.
Joel Gonzales, father of Jazheel Erin, broke down in tears as he and his wife Heidi demanded “justice” for their daughter’s death.
The couple met reporters on Tuesday after their Monday’s dialogue with the management purportedly bogged down.
“The hotel sent a panel of lawyers and they said that in a drowning incident nine years ago, the hotel didn’t pay a cent for the insurance. We stood up and left because they did not want to discuss insurance matters and other issues related to liabilities for the accident,” said retired police general Efren Alamares, a relative of the family.
Joseph Della Gatta, Holiday Inn executive assistant manager, did not say if the Clark branch has no insurance coverage for its guests.
SAFETY TOP PRIORITY
In a statement emailed to this correspondent, Gatta said, “we hold the safety and comfort of all guests and employees as our top priority and concern.”
“This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family. The hotel has provided the relevant authorities its full cooperation in the investigation,” he added.
According to him, the hotel has been in close contact with the family, also offering support and assistance on a “goodwill basis.”
The family, Gatta said, has “so far refused this.”
The tragedy happened hours before Heidi, who works in Dubai, joined the family’s outing. Joel was in Dubai at the time of the accident.
The girl and her 5-year-old brother were in the care of their uncle Jayson Manalo at the time of the incident.
They used Villa 1022, care of their relative Rose Yumul who works in the hotel.
The girl left the kiddie pool, went to the bridge that separated that and the adult pool, according to her brother whose accounts were cited in the minutes of meeting between the conflicting parties on April 20.
Manalo said a guest discovered the body on the bottom of the pool where the water was four feet deep. The same guest fished the girl out of the water and tried to revive her.
He said there was no lifeguard in the premises. At that time, he noticed a billboard that flashed this advice:”No lifeguard. Swim at your own risk.”
“The pool attendants were busy attending to guests who we learned were here for [war games under the] Visiting Forces Agreement,” Manalo recalled, adding that while there was a registration desk at pool area, they were not required to register.
Manalo said it took 15 minutes before the ambulance and a doctor from the Mimosa Leisure Estate arrived at the scene.
“Apparently, Holiday Inn does not have an emergency response unit and personnel,” Joel said.
At the Air Force Hospital where the child was rushed, the suction was not working, according to the girl’s aunt Hazel Manalo, a nurse.
She said the paramedics only heeded her demand to bring the child to the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center when she identified herself as a nurse.
In a memorandum, the hotel’s security department said “immediately, emergency security response and investigation… were initiated.”
It mentioned that a pool attendant, Larry Bucatcat, “cautioned Jahzeel and one of her companions who was her uncle, after he saw them playing with the water hose.”
According also to the memorandum, Bucatcat “immediately initiated first aid after he established a pulse from the victim while waiting for Mimosa paramedics to arrive.”
LATE PNP PROBE
Alamares also accused Holiday Inn of refusing entry to Clark investigators. What was “more baffling,” he said, was that the Angeles City police conducted an investigation two weeks after the incident.
Supt. Joselio Imperial, chief of the city police’s investigation and detective management branch, said in a May 11 memorandum that Senior Supt. Pierre Bucsit gave verbal instructions on April 30 to coordinate with the child’s family. Imperial said the police probe was started on May 4 after the family asked for time to hold talks with Holiday Inn.
The Gonzaleses said they have instructed their lawyer to prepare complaints for criminal and civil liabilities against Holiday Inn.
Gatta said it was “unfortunate” that the family plans to sue the company. “We will review this development accordingly and all points raised by the family will be answered in the court of law if need be.
Joel Gonzales, father of Jazheel Erin, broke down in tears as he and his wife Heidi demanded “justice” for their daughter’s death.
The couple met reporters on Tuesday after their Monday’s dialogue with the management purportedly bogged down.
“The hotel sent a panel of lawyers and they said that in a drowning incident nine years ago, the hotel didn’t pay a cent for the insurance. We stood up and left because they did not want to discuss insurance matters and other issues related to liabilities for the accident,” said retired police general Efren Alamares, a relative of the family.
Joseph Della Gatta, Holiday Inn executive assistant manager, did not say if the Clark branch has no insurance coverage for its guests.
SAFETY TOP PRIORITY
In a statement emailed to this correspondent, Gatta said, “we hold the safety and comfort of all guests and employees as our top priority and concern.”
“This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family. The hotel has provided the relevant authorities its full cooperation in the investigation,” he added.
According to him, the hotel has been in close contact with the family, also offering support and assistance on a “goodwill basis.”
The family, Gatta said, has “so far refused this.”
The tragedy happened hours before Heidi, who works in Dubai, joined the family’s outing. Joel was in Dubai at the time of the accident.
The girl and her 5-year-old brother were in the care of their uncle Jayson Manalo at the time of the incident.
They used Villa 1022, care of their relative Rose Yumul who works in the hotel.
The girl left the kiddie pool, went to the bridge that separated that and the adult pool, according to her brother whose accounts were cited in the minutes of meeting between the conflicting parties on April 20.
Manalo said a guest discovered the body on the bottom of the pool where the water was four feet deep. The same guest fished the girl out of the water and tried to revive her.
He said there was no lifeguard in the premises. At that time, he noticed a billboard that flashed this advice:”No lifeguard. Swim at your own risk.”
“The pool attendants were busy attending to guests who we learned were here for [war games under the] Visiting Forces Agreement,” Manalo recalled, adding that while there was a registration desk at pool area, they were not required to register.
Manalo said it took 15 minutes before the ambulance and a doctor from the Mimosa Leisure Estate arrived at the scene.
“Apparently, Holiday Inn does not have an emergency response unit and personnel,” Joel said.
At the Air Force Hospital where the child was rushed, the suction was not working, according to the girl’s aunt Hazel Manalo, a nurse.
She said the paramedics only heeded her demand to bring the child to the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center when she identified herself as a nurse.
In a memorandum, the hotel’s security department said “immediately, emergency security response and investigation… were initiated.”
It mentioned that a pool attendant, Larry Bucatcat, “cautioned Jahzeel and one of her companions who was her uncle, after he saw them playing with the water hose.”
According also to the memorandum, Bucatcat “immediately initiated first aid after he established a pulse from the victim while waiting for Mimosa paramedics to arrive.”
LATE PNP PROBE
Alamares also accused Holiday Inn of refusing entry to Clark investigators. What was “more baffling,” he said, was that the Angeles City police conducted an investigation two weeks after the incident.
Supt. Joselio Imperial, chief of the city police’s investigation and detective management branch, said in a May 11 memorandum that Senior Supt. Pierre Bucsit gave verbal instructions on April 30 to coordinate with the child’s family. Imperial said the police probe was started on May 4 after the family asked for time to hold talks with Holiday Inn.
The Gonzaleses said they have instructed their lawyer to prepare complaints for criminal and civil liabilities against Holiday Inn.
Gatta said it was “unfortunate” that the family plans to sue the company. “We will review this development accordingly and all points raised by the family will be answered in the court of law if need be.
