Trapped BoC employees mulling case vs hotel management

BALANGA CITY, Bataan — A legal counsel of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) disclosed that they are considering filing charges against the management of the Plaza hotel here after 11 top personnel of the BoC were trapped inside the elevator of the hotel they were staying at.

Atty. Jabar A. Sabdullah, legal counsel of Port of Limay, told DAILY TRIBUNE that the mental anguish suffered by their 11 personnel when they were trapped for 20 minutes inside the Plaza Hotel has caused them psychological and physical trauma.

“We are now studying and considering filing charges against the owner of the hotel,” Sabdullah said.

To recall, Deputy District Collector for Operations Annuar B. Datudacula wrote a letter to Mayor Francis Garcia, saying that they filed the complaint to avoid future occurrences and prevent any untoward incident that may occur to the public.

Datudacula said that he and their 10 other BoC personnel who came all the way from BoC Central Office, Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City were then going down from 3rd floor of the hotel last 18 August when the elevator malfunctioned and refused to open and they were trapped for 20 minutes.

“The circumstances surrounding the incident raise serious concerns about the safety and preparedness of the hotel,” Datudacula said.

“At first, we were laughing with our visitors, but when no one responded to our distress call for rescue, our women visitors were then scared as it took already 20 minutes before we were able to forcibly open the elevator door,” he added.

The district collector also said that they have discovered that the elevator has no certificate of inspection or certificate of operation issued by a building official displayed inside.

He said that despite their repeated requests to communicate with hotel personnel using the emergency system, the response was inadequate.