Makati Mayor Abby Binay on Friday said Senator Alan Peter Cayetano should stop using his position to intimidate national government officials and instead be “man enough” to admit that Taguig has failed to match the health services provided by Makati to EMBO residents.

The mayor issued the statement after Cayetano, during a budget hearing, berated Health Secretary Ted Herbosa for allegedly failing to extend health services to residents in the 10 EMBO barangays. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that these barangays fall under the political jurisdiction of Taguig.

Mayor Binay also urged national government agencies to inspect public facilities in Taguig and release their findings to the public. This came after personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) conducted surprise inspections of Ospital ng Makati and the University of Makati, but found no violations.

The DENR inspection was prompted by remarks made by Cayetano during the agency’s budget hearing.

“In the interest of fairness, we ask the concerned national agencies to also conduct an inspection of Taguig Hospital, Taguig University, and other public facilities in Taguig, and make their report public,” Mayor Abby said. She added that Cayetano is using the Senate as a platform to bully the Makati city government.

“He should be man enough to admit his shortcomings,” Binay said.

The mayor also questioned why the senator was holding the Health Secretary responsible for the health services of EMBO residents, stressing that it is the responsibility of Taguig. “That is the responsibility of Taguig,” she said.

Mayor Binay further pointed out that Taguig had repeatedly declared its ability to provide the same health services to EMBO residents as Makati. Given this, she found the senator’s treatment of the health secretary perplexing.

“The problem with Senator Alan Cayetano is that he is blaming others to hide the failures of the Taguig leadership in serving the health needs of EMBO residents,” Binay said.

“He should stop using his position to intimidate the DOH and other national government agencies to do his bidding,” she added.

The mayor also reminded Cayetano that Taguig, not the Department of Health (DOH), is responsible for providing free medicine to EMBO residents.

“It has been more than a year since the Supreme Court’s decision to transfer the EMBO barangays to Taguig. Makati even did what was expected of a good neighbor, continuing to provide health services to EMBO residents until the end of 2023, despite it not being reciprocated by Taguig. One year is more than enough time for them to work on their own health programs,” Binay said.

As of 16 November, Makati’s Lingkod Bayan Caravan has served 5,427 EMBO residents after Mayor Abby ordered their inclusion in the regular city activity that delivers various services, including healthcare and free medicines, on scheduled dates in the barangays.