UPDATE: The agency says the individuals wearing shirts with DOH logos are health workers employed by local government units.
The individuals who attended a campaign rally in Ilocos Sur wearing the Department of Health's uniforms are not official employees, the agency clarified on Thursday.
In a statement, the DOH said the people seen on the viral photo are health workers employed or directly engaged by local government units. The department stressed that such personnel are not under its jurisdiction."Due to the department's various health promotion campaigns and outreach programs on the ground, the DOH and its partners have produced and distributed a multitude of shirts and paraphernalia bearing the DOH logo, to health and non-health workers alike," it explained.
The DOH urged the public"not to use these apolitical materials" to endorse candidates for the May polls.