HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Statements made by a doctor on a local radio talk show have received a lot of backlash from elected leaders who rose to defend military veterans on island.
Dr. Vince Akimoto did not respond to an initial request for comment from The Guam Daily Post after making a statement regarding local veterans on the Ray Gibson radio show, but he did announce that he would be issuing a response in the coming days.
“(The governor) seems to think that the most important thing right now is to get a bunch of drunk veterans to come and testify that Adacao is the best place to be, even though they can’t spell Adacao. It’s not Adacao, it’s Eda Agaga,” Akimoto said on the radio show on Wednesday.
The statement made just before Veterans Day referred to the governor’s Bill 184-37, which aims to allow the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission to negotiate the sale or lease of six crown lots in Barrigada known as Eda Agaga, for the purpose of building a medical complex and new hospital.
“Dr. Vince Akimoto made a number of derogatory statements in the media earlier this week regarding veterans living on our island,” Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said in a press release. “Akimoto’s remarks were completely inappropriate and particularly disrespectful as they were uttered just a few days before we are set to celebrate and honor veterans for their courage and sacrifice.”
The governor hosted an informational meeting with veterans to garner support for the bill and has promised that the medical complex would include a Veterans Center. For the veterans in attendance, it was welcome news for the advancement of health care on island available to them.
However, during the radio show, Akimoto said, “Her next meeting is not with the doctors or the nurses that have been asking for a meeting for the last month. I think she’s meeting with a bunch of stray dogs behind the McDonald’s in Harmon. She’s talking with everybody but the people that want to talk to her. The doctors and nurses want her to meet with them so that they can come to some sort of consensus and move forward.”
A number of doctors in the medical community, Akimoto included, have expressed opposition to building the medical complex in Barrigada and have been vocal in advocating for the new hospital to be built at Ypao Point in Tamuning near existing medical infrastructure. However, the governor, who is a nurse, does not share the same sentiments. She has said Ypao Point is not big enough for the medical complex.
Akimoto’s remarks about veterans came as he alleged that “there’s been visceral personal attacks against the doctors,” in reference to claims that doctors’ support for Ypao Point may be motivated by money.
The governor demanded Akimoto issue a public apology to veterans in the community for his remarks, noting it was “weak, wrong and offensive to attack the personal character of an everyday citizen, let alone our heroes, in their moments of honesty and vulnerability, regardless of their political views.”
Sen. Will Parkinson, meanwhile, called Akimoto’s remarks “disgusting” and “unpatriotic.”
“To be quite frank, I found Dr. Akimoto’s comment both disgusting and extremely unpatriotic. Regardless of whatever opinion he may have about the new hospital, the disrespect that comment brought upon our veteran community was unnecessary, especially this week, when we are celebrating Veterans Day,” Sen. Parkinson said.
Vince Akimoto
Lou Leon Guerrero
William Parkinson
