Scandalous revelations
The News Today's series of stories regarding the rip off of PhilHealth funds by dubious cataract operations has gone a long way. We have discovered a lot of scandalous revelations since TNT reporter Florence Hibionada broke the story last week. These revelations, however, are still being kept while necessary verifications are made. You see, we have discovered that this is not just an issue of certain eye doctors taking advantage of PhilHealth claims but of a grand conspiracy and deception. Nevertheless, since we first brought the issue to print we made sure that we get all sides of the story. We took an extra mile to reach the persons concerned as well as those who may have knowledge of the issue. We may be treading the waters we are not supposed to tread but with the truth on our side we are confident and sure that we are on the right path.
'Furious' doctor
Dr. Miguel Sarabia, the chief of the eye program of the Bacolod Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital, furiously reacted to TNT's banner headline last Monday (Oct. 1) "SCHEME OR SCAM?" He protested the use of said words which according to him have negative connotations. He called up Florence to express his disgust that what he wanted to be written about was not followed. He wanted Florence to write about the country's problem on blindness. Well, it could be an interesting topic but Dr. Sarabia was aware that TNT interviewed him last Saturday primarily to get his side on the PhilHealth scam issue. It is not for Dr. Sarabia to teach us how to make our headlines or what to write about to make our paper sell. This is our job and we believe that we understand it better than him. The same way that we can't dispute his ability as an ophthalmologist.
What public apology?
Dr. Sarabia requested Florence to make a public apology to him for the "choice of title", referring to "SCHEME OR SCAM?" banner headline. Otherwise, he would sue Florence and this paper. Unfortunately, for Dr. Sarabia we are not cowed by your threats. Besides, we believe we have nothing to apologize to you. Read the entire story before passing judgment to us.