The Department of Foreign Affairs sacked a consular officer on Friday after the officer humiliated a polio-stricken journalist who was applying for a passport.
In his Twitter post, Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. apologized for the incident and expressed his disappointment over the consular officer’s behavior.
“@elmer_cato I am at a total loss for words except that I will seriously consider a proposal for chemical castration to prevent this behavior from being passed on. I am deeply sorry,” Locsin said.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato confirmed the dismissal.
Manila Standard reporter Macon Ramos-Araneta reported in her Facebook post on Friday that she was questioned by the consular officer about her polio after she submitted a photocopy of her person-with-disability card.
The officer even asked a security guard to check her feet.
“I was wrong for presenting only a Xerox copy of my PWD ID, but I wasn’t lying when I said I had polio,” Ramos-Araneta said in her post.
“In the first place, why would I fake it, why would you want to be a polio victim?”