Cebu Rectal Surgery Scandal, Another Story of Prejudice

April 29, 2008 · Filed Under general · 2 Comments 

During the weekend, I have watched Jessica Soho and my attention was particularly glued on the episodes of the show regarding blogging (which featured noemi dado of filipinaimages and aboutmyrecovery) and the cebu rectal surgery scandal which happened at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

The video clip, which is now very popular in you tube, made me sick. I can’t imagine how those narrow-minded professional medical people, (don’t we all think highly of doctors, nurses and other medical people? don’t we all trust them our dear lives and everything that goes with it including our dignity and privacy?),
actually made fun of a suffering man. Those medical people should have acted professionally, with accordance to the code of ethics they were sworn to.

I was shocked and wanted to spit when that spokesperson from the hospital where the incident happened said: instead of condemning the medical team who took the videos and humiliated Jan-Jan, the public should thank and glorify them for saving his life. How can a man of his age and stature say those insensitive words? Yes, they did saved his life but they were also the ones who destroyed it. The videos caused Jan-Jan public humiliation and now, he already lost the courage to face the world with dignity. Isn’t that synonymous for losing the will to live?

I have always been a catholic, a Christian but I was very sad by how our church handled this controversy. I feel ashamed that we saw Jan-Jan as a gay man who was instantly assumed of having sex with another man, rather as a victim of this unethical practice in the medical profession. the church is a brutal judge of character, especially to the third sex. I feel genuinely sorry for this.

This issue has made me very emotional. It made me believe, once again, that there is indeed something wrong with our society, with our ethics, with our viewpoints. Why do we think the issues on rice shortage and pandesal price increase is on the roll now? Because it was strategically planned and maneuvered to replace issues like the ZTE-NBN Deal and the Quedancor anomaly. I would congratulate the people behind these manipulation because they did this magnificently, the issues on corruption were successfully eased out.

Jan-Jan’s case is a case of human rights violation but instead of focusing on the issue of malpractice, we dig on the story of how the canister came into his butt. Instead of looking at the issue as an important medical ethical quandary, we blame the victim for being a homosexual.

It’s a pity that at this day and age, justice is still not for everyone. Jan-Jan’s case is another story of prejudice. I will pray for him and for those souls who disgraced him. For Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Hospital management, be a man and be accountable, stop saving face.
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