Arson case in Boracay resort reaches stalemate

The owner of the controversial Westcove Resort is looking for other possible legal remedies to seek justice on what he claimed as an arson case.

Crisostomo Aquino, owner of Westcove, said the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor recently dismissed the arson case he filed against Rowen Aguirre, former Malay executive assistant at the Provincial Prosecutor's Office last year.

Aquino accused government personnel of burning the main building of the resort last April 28, 2018, however, Aguirre denied the allegation.

The Westcove Resort has been ordered closed last year by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for lack of business permits.

The resort owner said they have been consistent in paying taxes, and that the local government is denying in giving them permits they need to legally operate.

Aquino said that there are inconsistencies with the government report after he received documents coming from the national headquarters of the Bureau of Fire Protection indicating that the resort has been deliberately burned.

In a three-page report May 14, 2019, Chief Superintendent Felixberto Abrenica, national director for Intelligence and Investigation, said he opined that there is an arson in the said incident.

"This office finds no reason to disturb the facts established in the investigation report. However, based from the totality of the documents contained in the submitted case by the Malay Municipal Fire Station, affidavit of witnesses and the apparent lack of any other competent ignition source. This office opines that the fire incident is considered a case of arson," said Abrenica.