Año: Up to Pasay gov't if councilor will be sanctioned for screaming at health workers
It is up to the local government of Pasay City if Councilor Arnel “Moti” Arceo will be sanctioned for shouting at health workers who conducted rapid testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inside the session hall, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday.
"Mayor Emi Calixto is aware of it and I leave it to the mayor to resolve the issue and impose sanctions if needed," Año told GMA News Online.
"After all, the mayor has the authority to conduct the investigation," he added.
In a separate message, DILG spokesman Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the agency would never tolerate any forms of harassment against health workers.
Malaya said the DILG-National Capital Region Office would also look into the incident.
Arceo was heard in a video shouting and cursing as some medical workers were conducting rapid testing inside the city's session hall.
The Philippine Association of Medical Technologists, Inc. (PAMET) denounced Arceo's actions, noting that what he did was "a form of maltreatment, harassment, and discrimination" of health care professionals amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Arceo has apologized and clarified that he was not angry at the medical workers but to the Pasay City Health Office. He claimed that they were not informed that a rapid testing will be done inside the hall.
He said he is ready to face the consequences of his action.—AOL, GMA News