VSMMC exec accused of harassment

CEBU, Philippines — The chief administrator of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City is being accused of harassing and mistreating an ambulance driver from Liloan town following a confrontation within the hospital’s premises last Friday.

Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco revealed in a Facebook post the commotion between VSMMC administrator Atty. Paul Gino Lopez and driver Rocklief Mondigo that ultimately ended up in the latter getting detained against his will until Sunday.

Lopez, in an interview over Brigada News FM, strongly denied the accusations.

According to Frasco, Mondigo sounded the ambulance siren when he saw a person standing in the middle of the road so the ambulance could pass through and drop off the patient -- a pregnant woman who was in labor.

“This person, who turned out to be Atty. Lopez, responded by physically hitting the ambulance. In reaction to the assault on the ambulance, Mr. Mondigo alighted and had an exchange of words with Atty. Lopez,” the mayor’s post read.

Frasco wrote that Lopez, accompanied by security guards of VSMMC, then proceeded to perform a citizen’s arrest upon Mondigo, who was detained from Friday to Sunday evening, with no charges having been filed against him.

Frasco added that police records showed that the arrest conducted by Lopez was allegedly for “unjust vexation for causing him emotional distress.”

All the while, she added, the pregnant patient was waiting in the ambulance, and Mondigo had to insist on bringing her to the emergency room first before he, their ambulance, and rescue aide were brought to the Police Station 2 of the Cebu City Police Office.

“While Mr. Mondigo was detained, records in the Liloan Municipal Health Office would show that Liloan lost the use of one of its much-needed ambulances for 24 hours, preventing critical health services from being rendered to the public. Further, there was a total of six hours delay in the transfer of two Covid-19 positive patients, one of whom was a dialysis patient,” the mayor wrote.

Lopez’s version

Lopez’s version of the story was different.

According to him, the ambulance driver was speeding and blew his horn in the hospital premises, which is not allowed as it may disturb patients.

Lopez said he was almost hit by the ambulance, which was why he tapped the back of the vehicle.

At this point, Mondigo alighted from the vehicle and allegedly started berating Lopez, prompting the hospital’s security guard to come forward.

Lopez said that no confrontation took place as he did not speak out of shock over the driver’s actions. Instead, he called up the police that led to the arrest of Mondigo.

The hospital official likewise said he had no intention of putting the driver behind bars and, in fact, issued a desistance to free the driver who already apologized after acknowledging that his actions were only fueled by stress and hunger.

Lopez said he also learned that the ambulance driver did not have a have a driver’s license.

Ending

Upon learning of the incident, Frasco said she sought VSMMC chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino’s assistance as she demanded the immediate release of the ambulance driver.

Frasco thanked Aquino for his intervention. Mondigo was released late Sunday evening.

Even then, the mayor has directed her legal team to explore actions that the local government of Liloan could take “as a result of this grossly abusive exercise of authority.”

“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 wrote. — JMD (FREEMAN)