DAVAO CITY –– A group of community doctors slammed Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia for berating the Cebu doctor, who expressed shock over the provincial government’s endorsement of “tuob” (steam inhalation) among provincial government workers in Cebu.
The Community Medicine Practitioners and Advocates Association (COMPASS), a group of community doctors in rural and urban health centers and academic institutions, said doctors had the right to comment on the effectiveness of a cure for an illness without being subjected to “doctor-shaming.”
“But this was not the experience of Candy Krista Pilapil and another colleague, both doctors from Cebu, who in a Facebook Live presser, were subjected to doctor-shaming by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia,” the group, chaired by Dr. Magdalena Barcelon, said in a statement.
On her social media post, Dr. Pilapil expressed horror that the provincial government had been promoting “tuob,” which she said could increase the risk of the spread of the virus through aerosols. Pilapil’s comment, warning of the possible spread, had been misinterpreted by Garcia’s supporters as “wishing bad to happen to people.”
Garcia, who took offense at the doctor’s post, belittled the young medical practitioner’s mere two years in the practice against the head of the Integrated Provincial Health Office, who has been practicing for 34 years. The Cebu governor said the IPHO head endorsed steam inhalation.
“‘Tuob’ and other traditional home remedies—such as consuming pepper, drinking warm water with ginger and garlic, studying the potentials of virgin coconut oil and others—may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of mild COVID-19 and some viral infections. But the World Health Organization said there was still no official cure or preventive treatment for COVID 19,” said the statement.