Friday, May 23, 2008
Ombud takes over admin probe
THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas will han-dle the administrative investigation on doctors and nurses at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), sources said yesterday.
The House of Representatives committee on human rights and civil service, meanwhile, is scheduled to conduct a public hearing in Cebu City on May 30 on the controversial VSMMC operation to remove a canister from a patient’s rectum.
Yesterday, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) central office, accompanied by DOH 7 Director Susana Madarieta, held a closed-door meeting with Assistant Ombudsman Santiago.
Santiago confirmed in an interview that Health Undersecretary Alexander Padilla was at her office yesterday to discuss the complaint filed by Genaro Jorolan against VSMMC officials.
She confirmed that an agreement had been reached but refused to divulge details, pending the release of an official order.
Padilla, in a separate interview, said he sees no problem in turning over the administrative investigation to the anti-graft office, saying it clearly has the authority to perform the probe.
He said he even prefers the ombudsman to handle it.
Santiago, in a previous interview, explained that the anti-graft office can handle the probe on its own, saying that Republic Act (RA) 6770 or the Ombudsman Law, gives it jurisdiction over all public officials and employees.
However, she said the health department, having administrative authority over government hospitals like the VSMMC, also has jurisdiction over its own people.
Implementation
She said whatever administrative findings the anti-graft office has on officials and employees of the hospital will be given to DOH for implementation.
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, through a final evaluation report prepared by associate graft investigator Elmer Gutierrez, leveled criminal charges against 14 VSMMC doctors, nurses and two clinical instructors after a fact-finding investigation on Jorolan’s original complaint.
Twelve of them were to be investigated administratively.
VSMMC hospital chief Gerardo Aquino, however, filed a separate complaint against six people over the same issue before the health department.
Three of the six persons were preventively suspended - Dr. Philips Leo Arias, head surgeon; Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo, surgeon; and Carmina Sapio, circulating nurse.
If the health department were to handle the investigation, it would be limited to the persons Aquino charged. Its findings will also not be subject to anti-graft office review.
Jorolan, in his complaint, accused unidentified staff members of the VSMMC of acting inappropriately by videotaping the medical procedure he underwent and then
uploading it to the video sharing website YouTube.com.
The House committee on human rights and civil service, meanwhile, will hold a hearing on the issue in Cebu City on May 30.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquiel filed a House resolution seeking a legislative inquiry on the incident.
Jonas Bagas, Baraquel’ legislative liaison officer, told Sun.Star Cebu that the focus of the investigation will be on human rights violation on members of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered (LGBT) community.
The committee will also conduct a separate hearing on the series of extra-judicial killings in the cities of Tagbilaran and Tacloban on May 29.
Hate crime
Bagas said representatives from the anti-graft office, health department agency, lawmakers, medical team and director of the hospital will be invited to the hearing.
Bagas said they will use the result of their investigation to push Congress to hasten the passage of House Bill (HB) 956 or the Anti-Discrimination Bill for gays and lesbians.
Earlier, Baraquel described the VSMMC surgery as a “terrible hate crime against a gay man” and the actuation of the medical practitioners as “doubly terrible behavior.” (KNR/GMD)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 23, 2008 issue)
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