CEBU CITY — A Cebuana beauty queen and her Spanish boyfriend were arrested after they were caught swimming and drinking in a beach in Moalboal town, southern Cebu, last Sunday afternoon.
Maria Gigante, 26, and her 35-year-old boyfriend Javier Filosa Castro violated an executive order that Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia had issued prohibiting swimming and other activities in beaches and other bodies of water while the province remains under the enhanced community quarantine.
The couple also violated the town’s liquor ban, according to Police Capt. Alvino Enguito, chief of the Moalboal Police Station.
Enguito said that when the couple was flagged down in a checkpoint, they showed an authorization letter from Patrol Patrylist authorizing Castro to distribute relief goods in behalf of the organization.
The couple told police that they were heading for Alegria town to check the recipients of the relief goods.
Enguito said they were surprised that the vehicle boarded by the couple did not pass by the other checkpoint.
Enguito said that they received a report that the coupe drove toward Barangay Basdiot.
Tourist police assigned in Basdiot tried to locate the couple and caught them swimming.
Bottles of beer were also seized from the couple.
“There was no resistance on their part and they even apologized. We will file the charges tomorrow (Tuesday) and they can bail since this is a bailable offense,” Enguito said.
Enguito said that since they came from Cebu City, where more than 1,000 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 have been reported, the couple was placed in an isolation facility at the town police station.
Gigante is one of the prominent models in Cebu. He took part in Binibining Pilipinas in 2016 and was also one of the contestants of the Binibining Cebu 2017. (Calvin D. Cordova)