DAVAO CITY — The Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Secretary Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Monday called on government officials and employees to follow rules and procedures, reminding that they are not exempted from adhering to regulations.
SAP Go made the call after the incident involving ACTS-OFW Party-list Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III who refused to take off his shoes in an airport security check. Bertiz reportedly noticed that Chinese-looking passengers did not go through the procedure at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
“As government officials, we were never exempted from adhering to such (procedure). In fact, the President himself will not ask us to be spared from yielding to authority and respecting the law,” Go said in an Facebook post with an attached old photo of himself and President Rodrigo Duterte going through the body scanner metal detector at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport or Davao International Airport.
When the President was still the Davao City mayor, he would always go through the scanner during his trips.
“Ang security check sa mga airports ay para rin sa ating kaligtasan kung kaya’t dapat tayo sumunod sa patakaran. Walang exemptions dapat (The security checks at the airport are for the safety of the people that everybody should follow. There should be no exemptions),” he said.
Regarding Bertiz’s case, Go said he does not have control over the legislator’s actions.
”Siya na po ang mag-explain kung ano talaga ang tunay na nangyari doon sa video na nag-viral (It is up to him to explain what really happened in that viral video),” Go said, noting that incident should be a lesson for all those in government.
“Importante ang disiplina para umunlad. Ang disiplina at mabuting ugali ay dapat magsimula sa atin (Discipline is important. Discipline and good values should start from us),” Go said. (Lilian Mellejor/PNA)
