Sunday, April 20, 2008 Malilong: Those responsible should be punished By Frank Malilong The Other Side
THE letters keep pouring in.
The case of the gay florist is proving to be a very emotional issue, judging from the mails I have received from readers, some of whom unfortunately, cannot seem to tolerate a contrary opinion and, as in the case of John Quijon, mistook the comments of another reader that I quoted last Friday as my own.
I have condemned the actuation of the medical and nursing people who attended to the florist as disgraceful. As I said in this corner last Tuesday, the greater perversion was not in the insertion of the perfume container in the patient’s anus but in the unbridled glee and amusement of those who did, or were present during, the retrieval of the object.
But I can’t ignore other opinions, especially from readers, just because they don’t conform to my own.
Michael Mangubat, for example, a Cebuano who now resides in New York agrees with the doctor friend, whose letter I extensively cited on Friday, that while the doctors and nurses have to be punished, the penalty should be tempered by the fact that the florist brought unto himself the situation that led to his disgrace. If only the victim “has been careful with his actions, this thing would never have happened.”
The florist’s case was unique, one that you don’t come across every day, Mike asserted, so it was understandable for the medical professionals to be curious. Unfortunately, “what started as curiosity on the part of the people, who were there, turned out to be uncontrolled excitement.”
Another US-based reader, Althea Ouano-Tiu disagrees, saying that while it is true that the florist “was caught in a very perverse and unusual situation, his right to privacy was still being violated. It doesn’t change the fact that the medical team not only broke sterile procedures inside an operating area but also made fun of the patient.”
Ouano-Tiu also said that there is no need for the florist to justify himself to anyone on the presence of the perfume container in his rectum. “What he does in the bedroom is private and if he prefers sex with strangers then that is his choice,” she said.
“We aren’t here to judge his sexual preference or what he does in his private life. He certainly didn’t do a video of himself having sex with a man and uploading it anywhere. It’s just unfortunate that he chose the wrong partner. But he didn’t do anything wrong. Being gay is not breaking the law. Agreed, he could be less promiscuous but let’s not forget, he’s the victim here. And we are in no position to judge anyone according to morality. Only God can do that.”
The persons responsible for the beach of privacy should be punished, she said. “A violation was committed and they should face the consequences for their actions. If we were to let this slide by without much incident, it’s the same thing as letting a criminal move on quietly with his life ‘because he has learned his lesson.’
“We have laws to protect patients and civilians and it’s time our laws actually did mean for something.”
