CEBU CITY—The municipal government of Liloan in northern Cebu is considering taking legal action against a hospital administrator for alleged maltreatment and harassment of the town’s ambulance driver.
Liloan Mayor Cristina Frasco took to Facebook to condemn the incident, which happened in the vicinity of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
“In behalf of the municipal government of Liloan, I condemn in the strongest possible terms the harassment and mistreatment of one of our frontliners, Liloan Rescue Unit Ambulance driver Rocklief Mondigo, who was detained against his will for several days at the behest of Atty. Paul Gino Lopez, Chief Administrator of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center,” said Frasco.
Frasco narrated that last Friday night, Mondigo transported a pregnant woman from Liloan to VSMMC in Cebu City.
When the ambulance reached VSMMC, Mondigo sounded the siren to a person standing in the middle of the road so the ambulance could pass through.
Upon hearing the siren, the person, who turned out to be Lopez, responded by hitting the ambulance.
Mondigo alighted and got into an argument with Lopez.
Accompanied by security guards of VSMMC, Lopez performed a citizen’s arrest upon Mondigo for alleged unjust vexation and for causing him “emotional distress.”
Frasco said that before he was brought to the Police Station 2 of the Cebu City Police Office, Mondigo insisted to allow him first to bring the pregnant woman to the hospital’s emergency room.
Mondigo was detained from Friday to Sunday evening with no charges having been filed against him, said Frasco.
“Upon learning of the incident, I immediately called VSMMC Chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino to request his assistance and demand the immediate release of our ambulance driver. I thank Dr. Aquino for his intervention leading to the release of Mr. Mondigo late Sunday evening,” said Frasco.
Lopez has expressed that he will not be filing any charges against Mondigo, said Frasco.
The mayor said she has directed the town’s legal team to explore what actions to take against the lawyer.
“The mistreatment of our ambulance driver while in the line of duty, at the hands of a high ranking official of VSMMC, is unacceptable. It is utterly ironic that inside the hospital premises, where the preservation of life should be given first priority, the life of a pregnant woman and her unborn child was set aside, to serve first the emotions of the hospital’s Chief Administrator,” Frasco said.