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CEBU CITY, Philippines - FOR being the subject of ridicule, the 39 year-old Cebuano gay florist, Danilo (not his real name) is demanding P6 million in damages from Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and its medical staff.
Danilo, together with his younger brother and Basak Pardo barangay captain Dave Tumulak, submitted a supplemental complaint affidavit for criminal charges at the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday morning.
Danilo demanded P1 million in moral damages from the members of the medical staff who were involved in the surgery to remove a perfume can from his rectum on Jan. 3 and from the government-run hospital itself.
? I and my family suffered mental anxiety, social humiliation, wounded feelings and sleepless nights for which I shall hold them all including the hospital liable..,? said Danilo in his 2-page affidavit.
The P5 million in exemplary damages was to set an example to other medical practitioners and hospitals that the act of humiliating a patient while unconscious is scandalous, outrageous and condemnable and should not be repeated.
Exemplary damages are awarded to a victim for what he had suffered. This also serves as a punishment to the accused to set a public example.
According to the affidavit, there was still no definite amount for the actual damages and other reliefs.
Gaudioso Melendez, graft investigation and prosecution officer, approved the affidavit.
Danilo had submitted an initial affidavit of complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman when VSMMC refused to name its medical staff involved in the operation.
Tumulak also said yesterday that he would pursue the writ of habeas data against VSMMC after the hospital refused to give out Danilo's records and other important documents during his operation.
Tumulak submitted a request to VSMMC, as Danilo were asking for the documents last Wednesday.
Guiller Ceniza, Danilo's lawyer, said his client will file a civil case at the regional Trial Court today or early next week.
Ceniza said the hospital will be included in the case while Danilo and his family will be the complainants.
Another lawyer, Magdalena Lepiten will handle Danilo's administrative case.
"Many lawyers are helping him. We are supportive to all of his moves and cases.", said Lepiten.
She said she will file the administrative case to the Professional Regulatory Commission.
"You don't have to be a doctor to know that making fun of a patient during an operation is wrong," said Lepiten.
She said she might file the case today after she speaks with Ceniza.
Also yesterday, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales said that from a legal standpoint, a civil suit for damages may be made against those responsible for posting on the Internet a controversial and unauthorized video of a rectal surgery performed at a government-run hospital in Cebu City.
Gonzalez said the VSMMC should also be held accountable because it allowed people to watch in the operating room.
"There's clearly a case for damages. And the hospital would seem to be liable because why were people allowed to watch in the operating room?" Gonzalez told reporters.
On Wednesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made public the names of the key staff involved in Danilo's operation.
They were head surgeon Dr. Philips Leo Arias; assistant surgeons Dr. Angelo Linawagan and Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo; nursing attendant Rosemarie Villareal; and circulating nurse Carmina Sapio.
Cebu Daily News called VSMMC yesterday but was told that Montecillo was not around since morning while nurses Carmina Sapio and Rosemarie Villareal were on leave.
Meanwhile, the question on whether the provincial government could take over the operation of the primary and secondary services of the VSMMC should be answered by the Department of Health (DOH).
Board Member Peter John Calderon, chairman of the provincial committee on healt, said yesterday that the province's willingness to assume responsibility of the hospital operations still stands.
?We are only waiting for DOH to turn it over to us,? he said. /Correspondents Hayde D. Quinanola, Carine M. Asutilla with a report from Reporter Doris C. Bongcac, Correspondent Chris A. Ligan and the Inquirer
