Just an apology

If Mercury Drug and Natrapharm were humble enough to apologize, an erstwhile customer from Bulacan would have been appeased in her complaint against the giant drugstore chain and the pharmaceutical company.

From where I sit, Mercury Drug could have been conciliatory towards Sarah Jane Gatchalian, a single mother, whose son nearly died three years ago from medicine bought from the giant drugstore chain.

Sarah Jane’s son was six years old in January 2019 when he was prescribed Natravox (amoxicillin) for his cold.
Natravox is made by Natrapharm Pharmaceutical.

The medicine, which was in powder form, needed to be mixed with distilled water before it could be taken.

The pharmacists at Mercury branch in San Miguel, Bulacan, did the mixing in front of Dr. Benecio Gatchalian, Sarah Jane’s father and the boy’s grandfather.

The child got sick after taking the medicine, complaining of a painful throat; his stool was dark brown, an indication of internal bleeding.

The boy was taken to the San Miguel District Hospital where a medico-legal doctor found “redness in the faucial (area around the tonsils) area apparently due to ingestion of the antibiotics.”

Sarah Jane, a nurse and medical technologist, said her son was confined at the Gonzales General Hospital for black stool.

When she showed the medicine to the pharmacists at Mercury Drug-San Miguel, they confirmed the presence of “shard-like” particles; however, they would not sign an incident report.

Ms. Gatchalian’s repeated gripe with Mercury Drug-San Miguel was ignored, prompting her to seek help elsewhere.

She sought the help of some senators, including Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who referred her to Health Secretary Francisco Duque.

Duque, in turn, endorsed her complaint to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which found that the bottle that contained the obviously toxic medicine had the “presence of crystals-like structure but absence of glass chips” in it.

When her request to FDA chief Rolando Enrique Domingo for an investigation of Mercury Drug and Natrapharm was ignored, she wrote to several other senators. Somehow, her request fell on deaf ears.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which she also approached, said it did not have the expertise to investigate her complaint.

When she went to some of the public service shows on radio or TV stations, she was told that her complaint was “too hot to handle.”

“Malaki yan, di natin puwedeng banggain (It is big, we can’t cross swords with it),” one of the personal assistants of a TV public service host told Sarah Jane.

Frustrated, she decided to come to us at Isumbong mo kay Tulfo.

Sarah Jane told this columnist she’s not blackmailing Mercury Drug and Natrapharm; all she wants is a public apology from the two giant firms.

Gatchalian belongs to a family of doctors; her father, mother, brother and sister are doctors of medicine.

Her family owns a hospital, a school and six clinics.

Why is she doggedly pursuing her complaint against Mercury and Natrapharm, if she’s not filing criminal or civil cases against them, I asked.

“Dahil pinalalabas nila na sinungaling ako (Because they make me appear as a liar),” the single mother said.

*      *     *

If I were the Villars, the richest and most powerful family in the country, and Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, I would wait until after the elections to accept the grant of frequencies which used to be owned by the shuttered ABS-CBN.

If I were the Villars and Quiboloy, I would tell the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to hold the grant of frequencies in abeyance until things are resolved between the government and ABS-CBN.

The timing is awkward.

The grant of frequencies to the company owned by the Villars and to Quiboloy, Davao City-based religious preacher and presidential friend, reeked of being a midnight deal.

But then I am neither a Villar nor a Quiboloy.

*      *     *

Let’s skip the Villars since they’re not linked to any crime or scandal; let’s talk about Quiboloy, who’s facing criminal charges in the United States.

Anytime now, Quiboloy might be summoned to the US to answer charges of sex trafficking and rape in courts.

The government can’t coddle Quiboloy without violating our extradition treaty with the US.

Even then congressman Mark Jimenez was extradited to the US after he was convicted of tax evasion and election financing offenses for his contribution to the Democratic Party.

*      *     *

I’ve been watching the TV shows that the presidential candidates attended – the ones of Jessica Soho and Boy Abunda – and they were not debates at all but interviews.

Debate is a clash of opinions by two or more individuals over certain issues on stage.

The Soho and Abunda shows presented the presidential candidates’ ideas or platforms through questions propounded by the hosts.

A debate is having all the would-be presidents face off against one another to destroy or belittle the rivals’ ideas or platforms. This did not happen in the Soho and Abunda shows.

It would be better if the debate would be held by TV-5 and CNN-Philippines, which are neutral stations.

*      *     *

Joke! Joke! Joke!

A father took his five-year-old son to the park where the boy saw two dogs coupling.

The boy asked what the dogs were doing, and the father told him they were making a puppy.

That night, the boy entered his parents’ room to ask for milk and saw his parents making love.

“What are you doing?” the boy asked.

The father, uncomfortable with the question, told the son: “We’re making your baby sister or brother.”

“Dad, please turn mommy around. I want a puppy.”

Moral of the story: Lock your door when you make love.