Public asked not to judge: Nurse taped baby case joint body formed

CEBU, Philippines - An inter-agency task force was formed yesterday to conduct a joint investigation into the alleged taping of a newborn’s lips by a nurse of the Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House, Inc., or the maternity hospital.

The task force would be under the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7, Regional Sub Committee for the Welfare of Children (RSCWC).

“Ang RSCWC mi-decide nga mo-join ang other agencies para makita ang tanang angulo sa investigation,” said DSWD-7’s Grace Yana, who added that each of the member-agency have its own specialization that could help in the case.

The Department of Health, Commission on Human Rights, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine National Police, Regional Prosecutor’s Office, and Cebu City Hall’s Department on Social Welfare and Services formed the task force.

Creation of the task force came on the heels of the call made by the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA)-Cebu Chapter, Inc. for the public to rush judgment on the nurse who allegedly committed the offense on May 9.

PNA President Edith Rose Santos said their group supports the investigation, but that they “fervently hope that due process is given (also) to the nurse involved.”

She said the PNA is looking into the circumstances that led to the “unfortunate” incident.

“It is simply an isolated case because…it only involves one nurse and does not indicate the entirety of the nursing population,” Santos said.

She said “the intervention of placing a hypoallergenic plaster to a mouth in order to support the pacifier of a newborn is considerably unacceptable.”

She said they are supposed to promote breastfeeding, which is mandated by law, so that using a pacifier on a baby is strongly discouraged.

PNA is a professional organization of nurses in the country, has as members an estimated 6,000 registered nurses in Cebu.

Yesterday, CHR-7’s Dante Jadman said the inter-agency task force would tap Professional Regulations Commission, National Bureau of Investigation, and National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to join in the investigation.

The DOH-7 earlier asked maternity hospital to submit an incident report, a copy of its policies and regulations in the neonatal intensive care unit, and the newborn baby’s patients’ chart.

DOH-7’s Philip Yray said that instead of responding to their request for an incident report, the maternity hospital sent them a letter asking for a joint investigation with them.

With the creation of the task force, maternity hospital would be asked if it is still willing to have the joint investigation, but this time with the other members and not just with DOH.

“I think they are cooperating.  Tagaan pod nato sila og time to conduct their investigation kay lisod man sab kun ilang ipagawas nga istorya, dili pa klaro kun unsa gyud ang nahitabo (because it is difficult for them to already speak about the incident without really knowing what happened,” Yray said.

Jadman, on the other hand, said that once maternity hospital would accede that it would be having a joint task force with different government agencies, they would speed up the investigation.

“Kung mahimo humanon nato within the 48 hours humanon nato. Pero if it will involve a technical problem or skill, makita nato mora’g malangay siguro,” he said.

Jadman said if the parent would not file a formal written affidavit, the CHR-7 could to proceed in the investigation as they are mandated to monitor human rights.

Ryan Noval, father of the infant, earlier said they would wait first for the hospital’s incident report before deciding whether they would sue or not.

Yana said the hospital promised to release the initial investigation of the case on Tuesday.

“Ang move sa parents magdepende pud raba sa result nga ihatag sa Maternity,” she said.

The Cebu City Police Office Women’s and Children’s Protection  Desk  (WCPD)  said it has coordinated with CHR-7 in the filing of criminal charges against the nurse.  That is if the maternity hospital would help authorities in identifying her.

Senior Inspector Luzviminda Langbid, WCPD chief, said that once the nurse’s identity is known, her office and the CHR would be the ones to file the necessary complaints, including child abuse.

She also told the press how she was ignored by the hospital staff when she went to there Thursday morning. She said she waited for more than three hours but in the end it was still the security guard who entertained her.

“Alas nuwebe ko didto unya naabtan na lang ko’g 12:15 sa udto wala gihapoy niatubang nako kay nag-meeting pa kuno ang doktor bisan pa man nagpaila ko nga pulis ko….  Wa gyud koy nakuha (I was there 9 a.m. and was made to wait until I decided to go at 12:15 p.m.  I was told the doctor was still in a meeting, but no one came even after introduced myself as a police officer),” she said.

Langbid said they would be checking on the protocol of the hospital and its dos and don’ts before they would coordinate with the DOH-7 fact-finding committee. — /RHM (FREEMAN)