MANILA, Philippines - Known for explicitly expressing his political views on social media, Spanish-Filipino tour guide and cultural activist Carlos Celdran is embroiled in a new controversy concerning a Makati Medical Center nurse who supports Duterte.
Celdran, a known supporter of administration bet Mar Roxas, recounted his experience with the nurse through a Facebook post. According to Celdran, he had to ask the nurse wearing a Duterte bracelet to remove it.
“Makati Medical. A nurse knew who I was and STILL wore a Duterte bracelet to the booth where my friend was dying of cancer. I had to ask her to take it off. F*cking hell,” Celdran wrote on his Facebook account.
A certain Michale Lintag, who originally posted the screenshot of Celdran’s controversial post, claims that the social media personality deleted it after receiving flak from netizens particularly nurses and other healthcare professionals.
After the screenshot of the post spread like wildfire on social media, netizens slammed Celdran for treating the nurse in such manner.
“Nurses have the right to express who they want to vote. We do not persuade our patients to choose whom we want. We know how to respect others. As patient providers, we deserve outmost respect! Katanggap tanggap pa if walang emphasis sa pangalan ng baller na suot nya at pinatanggal niya yun lalo na kung nakakasagabal sa trabaho. If that nurse wore a "yellow" bracelet, will he do otherwise??” Maria Niña Peralta-Argallon commented.
Carl E. Balita wrote: “She has the right to express as much as you claim to have it CARLOS CELDRAN! Nurses are not prohibited to take political stand for as long as it does not interfere with patient care.”
In a separate Facebook post, Celdran asked Makati Medical Center employees wearing Duterte baller bands to reconsider voting for their bet. Celdran, whose father worked for Makati Medical Center for decades, said that Duterte’s values are “not the values that doctors and nurses are about”.
“Your profession is about kindness, professionalism, and healing. Not about bullying, making light of serious issues like women's rights, rape, and national security,” Celdran wrote.
He added: “But I'll cut a deal. I promise not to wear my baller there today. Promise not to wear yours. Please. It's divisive, it's unsanitary, and most especially, it stops others from feeling like Makati Medical is a home for everyone, not just your political choice.”
--Mini, The Summit Express