The Cebu Rectum Scandal is one of the major topics in the Philippines today. Basically, it show a video of a group of doctors and nurses performing an operation on a homosexual patient with a Black Suede Body Canister in his rectum.

As if it is not bad enough that they decided to put it on video, they also laughed about what they were able to extract from the patient. I was able to watch the video and see how the doctor proudly waved the canister in the air and how the other people in the room laughed as if they saw a circus act.

As a student nurse here in the Philippines, I became bothered because of many things. First, I am a student nurse and even I know how to value any patient’s right to full disclosure. That is the first thing that they teach you before you study any major subject in BS Nursing. I also thought of what the world would think of any Filipino who is a member of any medical field. Of course they would arrive at an assumption that all Filipinos are that unprofessional and stupid. Also, since I already handle patients, I felt anger. The whole medical team has probably more years of experience than I do but even I know better that to put any procedure or anything to do with a patient on video. Its just utterly distasteful.

Now, it is all over the news, not only nationally but also internationally as well. Even if your job has nothing to do with health, you would feel angry at what the medical staff did to the poor patient. No human deserves to be treated like that and the patient being gay does not change that in any way. It doesn’t mean that the patient is gay that they have the right to do what they did. They should have known better. What would they do if the same thing happened to a person that they value? What would they do then?

Right now, there is nothing that I can do but to watch as the trial unfold and the medical staff and everyone in the room to be prosecuted. I must admit that I have a very strong opinion on this matter. If I was the judge, I would sentence them to life imprisonment because what they did changed the poor man’s life forever. Whatever they do, the video will forever be on the Internet and can be viewed by any body at any time. For that alone, they already deserve life imprisonment.

I could only hope that the international health society does not forget that there are many talented health care professionals in the Philippines. They should not let this tarnish their idea of the Filipino medical team members. They should not forget that this can happen to any country because in a bunch of good tomatoes, there are always rotten ones. They should not forget that many doctors and nurses have been giving proper health care services in different countries for more than a decade now. The outstanding excellent service that the Filipino health care team have been providing over the years in other countries should not be forgotten due to the work of these immature and totally stupid group of doctors and nurses.