Quantcast
Article Index |Advertise | Mobile | RSS | Wireless | Newsletter | Archive | Corrections | Syndication | Contact us | About Us
SEARCH WEB INQUIRER Powered by: Google
Mon, Sep 08, 2008 12:58 PM Philippines      25°C to 33°C
   HOME       NEWS     SPORTS     SHOWBIZ AND STYLE     TECHNOLOGY     BUSINESS     OPINION      GLOBAL NATION    SERVICES
 
  Breaking News :    
Advertisement
Robinsons Land Corp.
Metrobank

INQUIRER ALERT
Get the free INQUIRER newsletter
Enter your email address:

 
Breaking News / Nation Type Size: (+) (-)
You are here: Home > News > Breaking News > Nation

  ARTICLE SERVICES      
     Reprint this article     Print this article  
    Send as an e-mail     Send Feedback  
    Comment on this article on our Vox Populi blog  

  RELATED STORIES  





imns



Medical malpractice a real issue--‘running priest’

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:09:00 04/25/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Activist Catholic priest Robert Reyes reminded the public and the church on Friday that the real issue in the Cebu rectal surgery scandal is medical malpractice, not gay sex.

"The issue is medical malpractice and the violation of a person's right to dignity and privacy,'' Reyes, known as the “running priest” because he runs not only as exercise but to attract attention to various causes for jogging to highlight his position on issues, said in an e-mailed statement.

Reyes, now working for the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, said focusing on the angle of gay sex in the case is a diversion from the real issue.

"Focusing on gay sex detracts from the issue and punishes and embarrasses the victim instead of the real culprits, the medical personnel who performed the operation on `Danilo' [not the patient’s real name]," he said.

The case involves the posting on the Internet of unauthorized video footage of rectal surgery being performed on a patient at the government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

The video showed doctors, nurses and other medical workers jeering and laughing as a perfume canister was removed from the rectum of a man who had admitted the object was inserted during a drunken sexual encounter with a male partner last New Year’s Eve.

Monsignor Achilles Dakay, spokesperson of the archdiocese of Cebu, said on Wednesday that the main issue in the scandal was gay sex.

The gay community raised a howl and retorted that it was precisely such a low regard for gays and church teaching that gay sex is abnormal that reinforced discrimination against them.

Reyes said that turning an "extremely sensitive" operation into "cheap entertainment" bordered on the criminal.

"The role of the medical personnel was to perform their sworn and sacred promise to promote and preserve health. Turning an otherwise extremely sensitive and private situation into cheap entertainment is more than travesty. Indeed it is criminal," he said.

"Whether gay or straight, a person has the right to seek legal remedies when their rights are violated," he added.



Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
Digg this story    Blink List    Blink Bits    add to my del.icio.us    Reddit   Yahoo MyWeb Yahoo MyWeb


RELATED STORIES:

OTHER STORIES:



  ^ Back to top

© Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An INQUIRER Company

The INQUIRER Network: HOME | NEWS | SPORTS | SHOWBIZ & STYLE | TECHNOLOGY | BUSINESS | OPINION | GLOBAL NATION | Site Map
Services: Advertise | Buy Content | Wireless | Newsletter | Low Graphics | Search / Archive | Article Index | Contact us
The INQUIRER Company: About the Inquirer | User Agreement | Link Policy | Privacy Policy

Advertisement
Mary's Garden
Inquirer Blogs
Walmart Back-to-School
Themes and Motifs