Angelina Mead King will be closing down some branches of Victoria Court as the hotel industry continues to suffer a major blow from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
Founded in 1996 by the late Archimedes "Archie" King, Victoria Court's 10 drive-in hotels are currently being managed by the founder's children, Angelina and Atticus.
Angelina is in charge of the southern branches, which include the Cuneta, Gil Puyat, and Malate branches, while Atticus is handling the northern branches.
In an undated video that started making the rounds on social media on Tuesday, June 2, Angelina announced the unfortunate news to her employees.
She said, "To my dearest employees, it deeply saddens me to have to record this video. As many of you know by now, we are facing unprecedented times in this world. This COVID virus has really decimated all facets of life.
"As much as I have been trying to extend a helping hand to each and every one of you over these past few months, it is with a heavy heart that I now have to make a life-changing decision that will affect us all.
"Over the next few weeks, I don’t think that hotel and motel operations will be able to produce the same results as how we used to. It is time that we face the facts and be honest, and try to prepare for what’s coming."
Angelina added that the type and size of her branches' current market are not enough to sustain the business.
She continued, "Even though we have been accepting OFWs, BPOs, and maritime crew, it is still not enough for the business to sustain itself and take care of all of us. We all have to go into survival mode. It is better for us to prepare for this now, rather than ignore it.
"Over the next few weeks, we will be preparing your retirement and retrenchment packages, so that you will have some funds to survive over the next few months. Please don’t think that we have come to this decision lightly.
"It was a great difficulty. I want to let you know that we value all your hard work and loyalty that you have given during my management. And I really wish there was another way to go about this."
Toward the end of the video, Angelina advised her employees to start looking for another job.
"For now, I have to advise you to please look for another job to support yourself and your family during these tough times. And when the business does reopen again, you’ll be the first ones that we call back.
"I want to say please, stay safe, stay healthy, stay hopeful. I want to wish everyone the best of luck. This is your CEO signing out."
THE VICTORIA COURT BRANCHES that WILL REMAIN OPEN
Meanwhile, Atticus clarified in a video posted on his Facebook account that the branches under his management will remain operational.
These are Balintawak, Hillcrest in Pasig, Panorama in Pasig, Las Piñas, Malabon, North Edsa, and San Fernando in Pampanga.
His team had let go of some of his employees, and is still trying its best "to keep our lights on."
He said, "For clarity, we both share the brand 'Victoria Court,' but we have completely different management groups. Given that, our solutions to the ongoing situation are completely different and unrelated.
"For my group, we have decided to retrench and we are trying our best to keep our lights on. Presently, we are still catering to our medical frontliners. We've been supporting them since maybe the second week of the pandemic.
"We are catering to mandatory 14-day quarantine OFWs. We are also catering to BPOs who need a nearby space for their employees to mitigate the risk of travel and hassle of multiple checkpoints.
"So yeah, that's our market now and it's not ideal. We are not optimized for it and we are looking forward to things reverting back to normal as I'm sure a lot of you guys are."
Most hotels, resorts, tourist inns, and motels ceased their operations after Metro Manila, and several other areas were put under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Some have been allowed to operate for long-staying guests, stranded tourists, frontliners, and employees of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.
Starting June 1, 2020, hotels and motels in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) are allowed to operate with 50-percent capacity.
Meanwhile, staycations and hotel bookings will be opened to tourists in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
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