NBI to summon Belo on botched butt job

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday they will summon celebrity cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vicki Belo and an official of her Belo Medical Group (BMG) next week to shed light on a patient’s claims that a buttock enhancement implant caused an infection that nearly killed her.

Ross Bautista, executive officer of the Office of the Deputy Director for Intelligence Services (DDIS), said businesswoman Josefina Norcio, 40, claimed that it was Belo whom she initially consulted about her plans to undergo a buttock augmentation procedure.

“Norcio claimed she was not informed of any side effects of the surgery and this made her decide to undergo surgery,” he said.

Bautista said they have to get Belo’s side to determine the truth of Norcio’s claims.

In her complaint before the NBI, Norcio said she underwent buttock augmentation surgery in 2003 and 2005 at the Belo Medical Clinic.

Norcio said she had to undergo a series of surgeries for the removal of pus and the ruptured hydrogel implant.

Bautista said a BMG representative will be asked to explain the clinic’s claim on their website that “hydrogel is a permanent filler.”

“We discovered that hydrogel is far from being a permanent filler. It (hydrogel) is a foreign object and a person’s body will always reject that,” he said.

A former BMG doctor, Dr. Francis Decangchon, told the NBI he only “retouched” Norcio’s buttocks and the initial surgery was done by Dr. Ronaldo Cayetano of the BMG.

Bautista said they want to clarify other matters, including Decangchon’s claim that all materials and equipment used by cosmetic surgeons at the BMG are provided by the company.      – Sandy Araneta