Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy, also spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, appears before the hybrid hearing of the Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, on the issue of red-tagging/red-baiting of certain celebrities, personalities, institutions, and organizations. (File photo by ALBERT CALVELO / Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) asked the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) on Monday to revoke the certificate of registration as a physician of Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy for her repeated red-tagging of the alliance.
The AHW had earlier filed administrative complaints against Badoy at the Office of the Ombudsman for the same reason.
In its complaint to the PRC on Monday, the group said Badoy of violating the code of conduct and ethical standards of the medical profession “through persistent, relentless red-tagging and vilification of AHW national leaders and the organization.”
Badoy’s statements against the group and its members were uncalled for, according to nurse Cristy Donguines, the president of the AHW chapter at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.
“We are upset by this red-tagging issue. We are in the midst of a pandemic wherein we risked our lives and health in fighting the deadly virus. Many of our fellow health workers died in combating COVID-19 and yet we are being maliciously attacked and accused of being terrorists by Ms. Badoy and the entire NTF-ELCAC,” Donguines said.
The NTF-ELCAC is the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, where Badoy is a spokesperson.
“The false, baseless and dangerous allegations of Badoy have caused intense anxiety and sleepless nights to AHW’s national leaders and members and have also caused the same level of distress to people who are close to us,” Donguines added.
Badoy had linked AHW officials — including its president, Robert Mendoza, and its secretary-general, Benjamin Santos — to communist rebels.
Badoy, a doctor by profession, is facing several complaints about her red-tagging — linking legitimate organizations and progressive individuals to groups such as the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Badoy has also repeatedly accused the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives of being members of front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF.
President Rodrigo Duterte has backed Badoy’s statements.
Meanwhile, Badoy clarified last March that she was unfazed by the complaints against her. She said they were only “propaganda” and a means by party-list groups to campaign for the 2022 general elections.
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