Nancy Binay wonders: What about doctors’ pro bono service?

Senator Nancy Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Nancy Binay on Tuesday recalled bringing home chicken as payment for pro bono services of her mother, former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay, who is also a doctor.

Because under the existing policy, doctors are allowed to  give  pro bono services but they have to issue   a sworn or notarized  statement  to prove that they  did  not charge their patients  any fee.

But  the  senator now wants the government to review  the said policy, saying  the absence  of lawyers in hospitals is making it  difficult to comply with the requirement.

“My mother is a doctor.  Because there’s a policy among doctors   that they don’t charge if your mother or father is a doctor, so the doctor did not charge my husband for professional fee,” Binay  said during a  joint hearing in the Senate on Tuesday led by the committee on ways and means.

“But then he’s being asked of a notarized statement that he was not charged… So after leaving the hospital, he still needs to look for a lawyer because he could not leave without the notarized statement,”  she added in a mixture of English and Filipino.

Because  of the difficulty of getting a lawyer in the hospital, she said, some doctors were forced to just put any amount  in the receipt.

“(The doctors) end up charging P200, P100 putting an amount rather than comply with that requirement. (Maybe) you need to review that policy,” said the senator.

“As I said my mother is a doctor,” she said, adding she grew up seeing some patients bringing live chicken as payment for her mother’s professional fee.

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