Resort airs side

MANILA, Philippines - We note and take issue with the article Mr. Wilson Lee Flores wrote which appeared in his column in The Philippine STAR published last Jan. 11, 2010 which relates an allegedly “horrible experience” by a Mr. Audric Coliangco in our company’s resort at Poro Point, La Union. The article has unjustifiably damaged our resort’s goodwill, thus, we request that our letter be immediately accorded equal space in your newspaper lest continuing damage be suffered by our resort.

If your writer and editors had only taken extra effort to verify the claim, they would have discovered that the account was not accurate. For instance, they would have discovered that while Mr. Coliangco claims to you to be from Urdaneta Village, Makati City, when he registered at our resort, he said that he was from Balintawak, Quezon City. In addition, in the course of our investigation of the incident, which we took immediately upon receipt of his complaint, Mr. Coliangco admitted that he left the veranda doors open when he and his wife left the room for a swim. He might not have also advised your writer that he also failed to heed the law’s precaution and the Hotel’s advice to notify the management and/or staff about the valuables he was bringing into the Hotel.

Showing bias and rash judgment, the article proceeded to carelessly and presumptuously describe the “resort’s indifference” and lack of handling. If the writer only sought our prior comment, he would have been informed that the Hotel had thoroughly investigated the matter with police assistance.

Most importantly, your writer would have known that the Hotel continues to be actively engaged with Mr. Coliangco in examining the incident. Thus we are surprised at why our hotel guest has gone to another forum to vent his claim.

We remain hopeful, however, that this issue will be resolved to both parties’ mutual satisfaction.

Thank you for this opportunity to explain our side. — Atty. JOSE ZULUETA, Corporate Counsel, Thunderbird Resorts