Miriam wants her organs donated upon death

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Wednesday said she has indicated in her last will and testament that her organs be donated to those who need them upon her death. "In my own will, I have specified that any part of my body that can be considered useful shall be distributed to the pertinent in hospitals quickly upon my death," Santiago said. She, however, noted that she does not want a eulogy for her at the Senate. "By that time I expect there will be nothing remaining of my physical body... so I don't see why we have to suspend session just because I died since my body will no longer be there I am not about to expose myself naked to you," she said. Santiago is suffering from a condition called hypothyroidism, which supposedly causes extreme fatigue. She had also earlier said that she may never recover from the condition. The senator made the statement while expressing her opposition to the confirmation of Health Sec. Enrique Ona during Wednesday's Commission on Appointments (CA) hearing. She was questioning Ona's position supposedly favoring the transplant of kidneys from unrelated living patients. She said that allowing kidney transplants between unrelated and living patients could lead to the exploitation of the poor, who may resort to selling their organs for income. According to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, around 570 local patients are waiting for kidneys to be made available for their transplants. About 32 of these patients, however, had died waiting for the needed organs. The World Health Organization in 2005 tagged the Philippines as one of the global hot spots for organ trafficking – together with China, Pakistan, Egypt and Colombia. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered in 2008 the total ban on all kidney transplant to foreigners following criticisms that her administration is promoting "transplant tourism." Under the 2008 policy, patients are not allowed to receive kidney donation from another person unless they are relatives, close acquaintances, or the donor is dead. The administrative order is also in response to the Declaration on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism signed by the Philippines and other countries two years ago in Istanbul, Turkey. Before the 2008 ban, there had been a 10-percent limit on foreigners receiving Filipino kidneys. But many in the medical community, including Ona, admitted that the limit was grossly violated, putting local patients at a disadvantageous position as more foreign patients can well afford kidney transplants. — LBG/KBK, GMANews.TV