Beauty queen arrested for swimming, drinking amid lockdown

Former beauty queen Maria Gigante, 26, and her 35-year-old boyfriend Javier Filosa Castro were arrested and jailed by police, after they was caught swimming and drinking on a beach in Moalboal town. Cebu province has been under lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Gigante and Castro should not have left Cebu City in the first place.

Maria Gigante of Bantayan (Binibining Cebu Charity 2017) allegedly violated an executive order issued prohibiting swimming and other activities in beaches and other bodies of water while the province remains under enhanced community quarantine. The couple also violated the town’s liquor ban, said Police Capt. Alvino Enguito, chief of the Moalboal Police Station.

Enguito said that when the couple was flagged down at a checkpoint, they showed an authorization letter from Patrol Partylist, authorizing Castro to distribute relief goods in behalf of the organization. Tourist police assigned in Basdiot tried to locate the couple and caught them swimming. Bottles of beer were also seized from the couple.

The two were placed in an isolation cell because they came from Cebu City, where more than a thousand cases of confirmed coronavirus cases have been tallied. Moalboal police said Gigante and Castro face charges for violating the province-wide enhanced community quarantine protocols and a liquor ban in the town.