House seeks probe of Cebu surgery scandal
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:46:00 04/22/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Following the surgery scandal in a hospital in Cebu, a resolution was filed at the House of Representatives on Tuesday seeking a joint inquiry into the incident.
Akbayan Representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel filed HR 524, directing an investigation by the committees on civil service and professional regulation and civil, political and human rights on the rectal operation performed on a patient by doctors and nursing staff at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
The surgery caught the public’s attention after it was captured on video and uploaded in YouTube, a popular video-sharing website. The video featured the removal of a canister from the patient’s rectum as the doctors and nurses inside the operating room were jeering and cheering.
The patient claimed that he did not consent to a video of his operation.
The resolution described the incident as "discriminatory, degrading, abusive and humiliating" as the medical attendants involved "displayed a blatant disregard for human dignity and human rights."
It also noted that the patient was "not only a victim of discrimination and stigma but of sexual abuse and hate crime as well." Hate crimes are defined as those committed against persons on the basis of race or gender.
The resolution added that hate crimes thrived due to the prevalence of bias against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
Rachel Hermosura, Contributor
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