Patient in Cebu surgery scandal receives threats - group

MANILA, Philippines - The patient in the Cebu canister scandal has been receiving death threats and is now avoiding the media spotlight because of what happened to him, an official of the gay right advocacy organization disclosed on Wednesday. "Aside from the death threats, he doesn’t want to be interviewed by reporters," anton Remoto, Ang Ladlad chairman, said during the weekly Sitio Fernandina forum in Greenhills, San Juan City. The patient has been humiliated after undergoing a delicate surgical operation on Jan. 3, 2008 at the hospital. Medical personnel present during the operation laughed after successfully pulling out the canister stuck in the patient's rectum. He said even their group has difficulty in convincing the gay man to accept help by providing him with professional counselors. "We like to provide him with a psychologist or therapist who would guide him and help him cope with the traumatic experience he had been through," Remoto said. Meanwhile, Remoto said their group also welcomed the recommendation of the Western Visayas Ombudsman to file charges against the three doctors and a nurse of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, a government run hospital, in Cebu where the operation was held. Remoto said that with the series of scandals involving the Philippine doctors, the image of local physicians have been likened to being trapos (traditional politicians). Two weeks ago, Ang Ladlad wrote the Professional Regulation Commission, asking the agency to bar the nursing student who uploaded the video over Youtube, a popular video sharing site, from taking the licensure board. - GMANews.TV