Bertiz hospitalized on eve of ethics probe

Aniceto Bertiz

The controversies hounding ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III have apparently taken their toll on the lawmaker, who has repeatedly been apologizing in the past few days.

The partylist representative was admitted to the hospital for chest pains, his colleagues in the House minority bloc said on Wednesday.

Coop-Natcco Rep. Anthony Bravo said Bertiz was brought to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City on Tuesday, a day before the House ethics and privileges committee was supposed to start investigating the incident at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) where the lawmaker berated a member of the security team.

‘Menstrual period’

Bravo said Bertiz was placed under observation.

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, the House minority leader, said Bertiz was still confined as of Wednesday afternoon, and recalled that the latter underwent a series of heart procedures three years ago.

Asked about Bertiz’s medical condition, senior deputy minority leader Lito Atienza quipped: “He’s in the hospital because he wanted [doctors] to check his menstrual period.”

Another round of bashing

Atienza was apparently making light of Bertiz’s public apology for the Naia incident, in which he blamed his flaring temper on his “monthly period,” a remark that earned him another round of bashing from women’s rights advocates and a rebuke from some of his fellow lawmakers.

“One thing is definite: [He] is suffering from hypertension and hyperpressure. It’s very, very probable that his blood pressure shot up,” Atienza said on a more serious note.

Bertiz drew flak over the weekend after he was caught on video berating and confiscating the ID of an airport security checker who had asked him to remove his shoes before passing through a metal detector at Naia Terminal 2.

Earlier, Bertiz incurred the ire of netizens over another video showing him telling agricultural and biosystems engineers that they would not get their professional license if they did not know who Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go was.

Shouting match

On top of that, yet another video surfaced, this time showing him in a shouting match with a migrant worker in Hong Kong.

Suarez said the House ethics probe was a chance for Bertiz, the deputy minority leader, to “undergo due process and for the public to know what truly transpired.”

Like any lawmaker, Bertiz is not exempted from any disciplinary action that the House committee might impose on him, Suarez added.