Dacera checked into Room 2207 on December 31, 2020, to celebrate the holiday with close personal friends, several of whom worked with her in commercial aviation. As the night unfolded, the gathering expanded into Room 2209 down the corridor, populated by an adjoining social circle. Security camera footage retrieved by investigators showed attendees moving between rooms across the late-night and early-morning hours.
By midday on January 1, 2021, the celebration had turned into an emergency. Rommel Galido, one of Dacera’s companions, found her stiff and unresponsive in the bathtub where she had settled to rest. Hotel staff assisted with CPR before transport crews took her to Makati Medical Center. Medical personnel documented no spontaneous respiration or cardiac rhythm upon arrival.
The surrounding jurisdiction fell under the Makati hotel investigation team, but institutional missteps emerged within hours. Quarantine protocols strictly prohibited non-essential leisure stays during that phase of the pandemic. City Garden Grand Hotel operated as an accredited quarantine facility, meaning the social booking violated regional emergency guidelines. That administrative infraction became entangled with the criminal inquiry, clouding early witness testimony.
