Coronavirus: Philippine police official sorry for birthday celebration held during lockdown

Debold Sinas said his junior staff had planned the surprise bash for him, which included a birthday cake and a traditional early-morning serenade

A government official called the event ‘a big no-no’ and said Sinas should have stopped the celebration immediately when it happened

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Debold Sinas blows out a candle during his surprise birthday party. Photo: Twitter

Published: 5:29pm, 13 May 2020Updated: 5:29pm, 13 May 2020

The police chief of the Philippine capital on Wednesday apologised for a birthday party held amid a lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.

Debold Sinas, head of the Metro Manila police force, said his subordinates had thrown him a surprise celebration on the eve of his birthday, May 8, on their own accord.

Photos circulating on Facebook showed Sinas blowing out a candle on a cake held by someone wearing a mask, and sharing a table with other men not wearing masks. None of the people appeared to be practising social distancing.

Debold Sinas said some of the photos circulating on social media were ‘grabbed from old posts’. Photo: Twitter

The traditional celebration included an early-morning serenade by his officers.

In other photos, Sinas was seen receiving flowers and a cap, while guests stood next to each other to collect food from a buffet table.

Sinas claimed some of the photos “were edited and grabbed from old posts”, and did not “depict the totality of what really happened”.