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Thursday, June 26, 2003
Famador: Confessions of dangerous sins
By Joel Famador
Some people are wondering if the attending physician of Diether Lorence Kishi – the baby who allegedly died from child abuse –acted correctly in reporting the incident to Margot Osmeña, wife of the Cebu City mayor, considering that she was not supposed to divulge confidential matters affecting her patient.
Well, since senseless bureaucrats gave the good doctor the run-around, she had no choice but to go to the “woman behind” just to get some results. She thought that a crime was committed, and it was her responsibility as a citizen of this b— republic to report the matter to “higher authorities,” namely, the First Lady of Cebu City.
The doctor should be congratulated as she went out on a limb just so she can report something that she thought was criminal. Don’t you know that we are running out of this kind of species in this b— republic?
But another question crops up. Did she act “ethically,” meaning, didn’t she violate the confidentiality rule that physicians should not reveal any information acquired from attending to a patient in a professional capacity?
Of course, she did, ethically. The statutory privilege (confidentiality of patient info) was not conferred by law to shield a person charged with a crime.
Besides, the privileged information in this case did not tend to blacken the
character of the patient, Diether Lorence Kishi. It may have blackened the character of the parents, but then they were not the patients of the physician.
Last question from Joe Banana: Does this legal privilege apply to communications between priest and penitent with the same effect?
Well, Joe it is different (and why are you interested of priests this time, you must be reading a lot about Bacani and Mejorada, huh?). Anyway, this time the privilege is absolute, meaning, even if the penitent confesses to a crime, the priest cannot reveal that to anybody especially the authorities.
The reason? (Come on, you still have to ask?) Nobody will go to church anymore and confess his/her sins. That would be the end of the oldest institution as it goes to bankruptcy.
What if the priest must disclose the info in order to save someone’s life? Can the priest break that confidentiality? Only in your dreams. The Canon law is so clear and absolute, forbidding any exception to the rule. Not even when the confessor consents to it.
So to the incorrigible criminals out there: If, for some miracle, you happen to suffer pangs of guilty conscience, confess your crimes to the priest. That will be truly liberating. And for sure, the priest will never go out on a limb to report your shenanigans to higher (meaning female) authorities. Reporting your confessions is truly a dangerous sin.
(June 26, 2003 issue)
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