Bohol Medical Society (BMS) president Dr. Jefferson Ong says sorry on behalf of a member who engaged in tirades apparently directed to other medical professionals, according to a report.
The tirades were understood to be directed to some doctors or medical professionals who are in favor of letting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and locally stranded individuals (LSIs) undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on the fifth (5th) day of quarantine so those who are placed in quarantine facilities can be reunited with their families earlier than usual, if they test negative of coronavirus disease (Covid), the report said.
The BMS member allegedly posted the tirades criticizing his colleagues in the medical profession who allegedly hold on to fake scientific findings.
On behalf of the BMS, Ong “apologized” for the “insinuation of this one member that we have.”
The BMS president apologized for the actions of one of the society’s members during the meeting the former attended at the Capitol on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, The meeting was attended by doctors both from the public and private sectors.
Also in attendance in the said meeting were chiefs of different district hospitals in Bohol, the different municipal health officers from the towns, the provincial Covid medical advisory group, the report bared.
Provincial administrator Kathyrin Pioquinto presided over the meeting in lieu of Gov. Arthur Yap. The medical center chief of Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) Dr. Mutya Kismet Macuno and Bohol Inter Agency Task Force (B-IATF) spokesman Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez were also present during the meeting.
“I would just extend the apology because as president of the BMS, it calls me to speak for the membership,” Ong said during the meeting.
Ong revealed the doctor concerned has been given a “warning”.
Ong also told the doctor to “take down his post (on social media)” and reiterated that what the doctor did “has been a displeasure to the majority” who saw it to be “very unbecoming of a doctor.”
Moreover, the BMS president said that what the member did was “unprofessional, especially because it was beginning to target a particular colleague” in the medical profession.
Moreover, Ong stressed his respect to the government doctors and members of the medical sector who met on Tuesday.
He said that he has the highest respect for the group, citing for one, Dr. Ellan Salada of the GCGMH who is part of the provincial government’s medical advisory group on Covid.
The BMS president bared that he even considered Salada as part of BMS, even if the latter is not an official member of the medical society Salada was present during the meeting.
Ong further told Salada: “You are still part of this group now because you are our only infectious disease specialist and at this time we should be listening to each other.”
Salada explained the reason the medical advisory group opted to shorten the quarantine period by subjecting the OFW/LSI to RT-PCR tests on the fifth day and allow a release from the quarantine facility in the event of a negative RT-PCR result.
The BMS member who allegedly “disrespected” the wisdom of Salada and her medical fellows on the matter, is not an infectious disease specialist. Salada is the only infectious disease specialist in Bohol.
The president of the Bohol chapter of the Philippine College of Physicians, Dr. Kazan Benigno Baluyot also attended the meeting.
Ong and Baluyot believe it is a better option to take the RT-PCR test on the eighth day of the quarantine stay. They believe that even with a negative RT-PCR result, the person under quarantjne should stay for 14 days.
In the meeting, it was agreed “in principle” that if the swab test taken on the fifth day yields a negative result, the OFW/LSI can be released but placed on home quarantine.
“ We cannot ask for trouble. We need to make sure of what can happen with our decision,” Baluyot said.
For her part, Pioquinto said: “Gov. Arthur Yap is one who listens. We respect our doctors so much. Why we keep our cases down is because we listen to our doctors. We just observe proper decorum. We maintain mutual respect.” (with reports from Capitol media)