Baguio Mayor Magalong on the Celebrity Party Issue, See the Story Here

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, on an interview conducted by Bombo Radyo Baguio, admitted attending Tim Yap’s birthday party which was held in a hotel in the City of Baguio. Mayor Magalong was asked about the story behind this and he disclosed further details.

“I was there. Kaya alam ko kung anong nangyari doon. Kaya nakakaawa naman ‘yong mga comments doon just on the basis of watching the video, looking at the picture,” said Mayor Magong. According to the mayor, he was invited by Venus Tan.

“The reason why team Yap was here because we would like to present to him yung art exhibit natin… Venus Tan was able to convince him to spent it in Baguio instead at nagdala s’ya ng mga, alam mo na, yung mga iba-ibang personalities dito. Art lovers ang pinunta n’ya rito,” Mayor Magalong added.

“On that particular day pumunta sila dun, bumili sila ng madaming art works, significant number of artwork, and at the same time nag post sila ang dami nilang pinost na magaganda. So nung inimbita ako na kung puwede akong mag-attend doon, sabi ko, sige mag-aattent ako to say thank you. To express our appreciation sa ginawa ni Mr. Yap.”

“I don’t really know him personally, pero I heard na very influential s’ya sa social media. At dahil sa ginawa niya, tulong sa to enhance our creative tourism and creative industry and at the same time tulong n’ya sa mga posting n’ya na magaganda about the City of Baguio, telling people that it’s safe here, come here, mga tourist come here, then I was there to say thank you. So we arrived at aroun 8 o’clock.”

According to Mayor Magalong, when it was already time for dinner, they removed their masks. “So nagdatingan na yung mga guest and then we were seated, preparing for dinner. And then dumating si Mr. Yap. It was a very dramatic entrance… After that, syenpre nung dinner na, tinaggal mo na yung mask mo, ‘di ba. Magtatanggal ka ng mask.”

“So kumakain kami dun and then some people will go arround and magpapa-picture. Magpapa-picture kasama ko yung wife ko, so nagpapa-picture kami. Ako naman sanay ako na every time may magpa-picture mag susuot ako ng mask, kasi alam mo naman, pag nag post sila sa Facebook, may magba-bash yan. They will always bash you. So ako, very concious ako nyan. Pero yung wife ko, alam mo naman, hindi s’ya sanay, so there will come a time na pag maraming nagpapa-picture, sunod-sunod, makakalimutan mo yung mask mo,” the mayor further narrated.

Mayor magalong also talked about a certain photo wherein it was said that his wife was seen not wearing a face mask.

“So during that partucular picture siguro napicturan s’ya, kasi gustong gusto ng wife ko si KC Conception… so dun, nagpa-picture sila, nagkataon naman na nakalimutan n’ya isuot yung mask so (s)he violated the ordinance. Pero if you look at the other pictures my wife was always wearing the mask, but she violated. So pati s’ya kasa ma s’ya sa investigation na ginagawa natin. Pati s’ya kasama s’ya, including the others.”

“In fact, kahapon, nandun na yung legal team natin , directing, ordering, Manor to submit an explanation sa nangyari. Ngayon, going back again, so nagkaroon ng cultural even, cultural show, after nung cultural show, alam mo naman tauo ‘di ba, pag cultural show bababa yung mga cultural dancers and then they will invite everyone for a community dancing. It’s part of the tradition. Contrary to the report na binabastos nila yung culture natin, it was not. The cultural dancer invited everyone to participate,” he said.

Related Article:

City Gives ‘Baguio Hotel’ 72 Hours to Explain Celebrity Party Protocol Breach

Mayor Magalong also talked about a video which was said to have feature people not wearing their mask during the occasion. “So ang nagyari nun, habang kumakain yung ibang guest, dahil niyayaya sila, lumalapit yung mga cultural dancers natin, inviting all these peopel, nakalimutan nilang mag suot ng mask. Nakipag-dance na yung mga tao. Yun ang nakuhanan ng video, nakikipag-dance.”

“Siguro kaya ako wala doon dahil hindi ako sumali sa cultural dancing because I was taking so someone,” the mayor said.

Mayor Magalong then further explained, “so yun yung nakunan ng video na we ere not wearing a mask. But actually they were having their dinner.”

“Again as I’ve said, there was still a violation, so they need to be investigated. And if they need to be fined we will fine them, including my wife. We will fine my wife. So kung sino yung mananagot dapat managot. The law may be harsh but it’s still the law. We need to apply it… walang entitlement. Even Mr. Yap, kung kailangan kong i-fine s’ya and the rest of his party kung kailangan ko i-fine because they violated din, we have to fine them,” Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong added.

When asked if hotel where the part was held has made a violation, Mayor Magalong explained that the number of guests is limited and the place is spacious. “Unang una is, very limited yung number of guest, kung nagpunta ka doon maluwag ang lugar. Siguro ang violation nila ay they forgot to caution everyone,” said the mayor.

The Baguio Mayor also made mention that the group of Tim Yap had undergone the triage process and that they were compliant. “Yung grupo ni Tim Yap they went through the triage process. They subjected themselves to swab test. Some of them underwent antigen test and some of them underwent RT-PCR. They were very compliant.”

Watch the full interview of Mayor Magalong, HERE.

The Public Information Office of the City of Baguio has also recently released an interview video with Mayor Benjamin Magalong on the celebrity party issue. See the video HERE.

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Source: Bombo Radyo Baguio, Public Information Office – City of Baguio