Cataract doc demands apology
By Florence F. Hibionada
Sarabia
“Scheme or scam?”
Either way, the words were not acceptable for Dr. Miguel Sarabia, top eye doctor of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental. The doctor’s adverse reaction was in relation to yesterday’s The News Today (TNT) banner story that carried his say on the controversial cataract case issue questioned by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC).
Apparently informed of the news story’s title, Sarabia called this writer and questioned the choice of words saying “I asked you to write about the blindness in the Philippines. What are the words 'scheme' and 'scam' doing in it?”
And he is not alone in his disgust, Sarabia continued saying no less than the Mayor of Bacolod City is irked over the matter.
“Tel dem mayor bing is also upset that hs award winning barangay eye program was label a “scheme”. Why? Does Iloilo hav such a good program? Ga talang talang da ang mga bulag ninyo (The blind there have nowhere to go),” the US-trained eye doctor said in a text message, the “dem (them)” referring to TNT management .
Yesterday’s article carried the side of Sarabia and his system of getting patients for cataract surgery chargeable to the government’s PHIC. He stands as among the top five doctors in Bacolod City with the highest in claims. Two other Bacolod doctors – Dr. Nonito Avecilla and Dr. Leopoldo Cuaycong were earlier named by hospital executive, Evangeline Johnson as among their top specialists.
The story had Sarabia’s explanation that his system was primarily conceptualized to help the poor get quality eye care. Yet what he cannot accept, he stressed, was the title as relayed to him.
“Pls publickly appologize to me for ur choice of title or I wil sue u and ur newspaper. Am very upset and insultd,” Sarabia’s text messages went. “Both words scheme and scam hav highly negative connotative meanings!!wat waste of my time dealing with u!” says another text message.
The TNT interview was made early Saturday evening following the board meeting held in Saviour International Hospital (SIH) in Molo, Iloilo City. Sarabia is an official of three hospitals owned/run by Johnson.