MANILA - An ambulance driver who had just finished ferrying medical workers to a hospital was wounded when an argument over where to park the vehicle led to a shooting incident in Candelaria, Quezon, south of the capital, police said Friday.
The 51-year-old victim, Sofronio Ramilo, was taking a break and about to eat at his home in Maharlika Highway on Thursday, when the suspect asked him to move the ambulance elsewhere, said police Cpl. Junjun Villaflor.
Ramilo refused and the suspect fired at him, wounding his right hand, the investigator told ABS-CBN News.
The 45-year-old suspect was arrested and complaints would be filed against him later Friday.
The incident occurred halfway into the monthlong lockdown of the entire Luzon to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Many health workers have had to rely on shuttle services while mass transport is suspended during the lockdown, set until April 12.
Private Hospitals Associations of the Philippines Inc. President Rustico Jimenez said he "condemns the barbaric shooting" of the ambulance driver.
"President Digong (Rodrigo Duterte), please do something about this incident," he said in a statement.
The Philippines as of Thursday confirmed 107 deaths out of its total 2,633 cases of the respiratory disease. Even during the lockdown, cases of the disease could spike with the recent delivery of test kits and the accreditation of additional screening laboratories, the health department earlier said.
RELATED STORIES:
ambulance driver shot Quezon, COVID, COVID updates, COVID latest, COVID Philippines, ncov, health, disease, virus, pandemic, ambulance driver, shooting, Candelaria Quezon