COVID-19 infected Senator Koko Pimentel III refused to make further comments on the reports that he was rushed to a hospital.
“No comment,” said Pimentel’s message to reporters on Wednesday. A report on Tuesday claimed the senator had been brought to a hospital for “not feeling good.”
The senator “is quickly on his way to recovery,” said his chief political officer Ron Munsayac.
“I’m very optimistic that he’ll beat the virus very soon. In fact, he’s been in communication with a lot of people already,” Munsayac added.
Last week, the senator was put in hot water after Makati Medical Center (MMC) issued a statement denouncing his “irresponsible and reckless action” of breaching the hospital’s and his home quarantine protocol.
MMC reported Pimentel accompanied her then-pregnant wife at the hospital’s delivery room, thus exposing the patients and the medical health workers to the deadly virus.
“A number of our nurses and doctors may need to be quarantined, which will further deplete the dwindling workforce of the hospital. The entire Delivery Room Complex will have to undergo decontamination and disinfection before it can be used,” MMC said in a statement.
“Mr. Pimentel, should have realized the ardent desire of every well-meaning Filipino and every dedicated healthcare institution to contain the spread of the infection,” it added.
S&R Membership Shopping BGC then confirmed the following day that Pimentel went shopping at the said establishment on March 16.
“Yesterday, March 25, there was a post circulating online about Senator Koko Pimentel seen shopping at S&R Bonifacio Global City. Upon learning this, we immediately reviewed our CCTVs and validated the transaction with our front-end personnels,” S&R said in a statement.
Pimentel apologized for his actions and asked for the public’s understanding that he was an expectant father needed by his wife. The senator also said he did not cough inside the hospital, so he thinks he did not infect anyone there.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers is preparing to file a lawsuit against Pimentel in response to his actions.
Rico Quicho said he has nine other attorneys for the “test case” they will file against Pimentel for allegedly breaking the law on “mandatory reporting of notifiable diseases and health events of public health concern.”