The transportation officer who stopped an ambulance carrying a patient with stage 4 cancer en route to a hospital along the EDSA busway has been dismissed, the Department of Transportation has announced.
Transport Secretary Giovanni Lopez said Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation Special Operations head Rayson dela Torre has been relieved of his post and directed to explain within three days why no disciplinary action should be imposed on him, as an investigation continues.
Dela Torre flagged the ambulance at 6 a.m. on Tuesday while it was transporting a patient with stage 4 cancer for a medical checkup, saying the busway was reserved only for emergency situations. Lopez clarified that all on-duty ambulances, regardless of a patient’s condition, are permitted to use the busway, along with other emergency vehicles like fire trucks.
The patient later died that same day after returning to Bulacan, prompting the DOTr to apologize to the family and pledge appropriate action over the incident.
“We are assuring the public that necessary measures are being taken to ensure that enforcement policies will be implemented with compassion and that the people’s safety will always be the transport agency’s priority and paramount concern,” the agency said in a statement.
