Resolution issued on baby taping ‘Hurtful’ council position rapped

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Nurses Association in Cebu has requested the Cebu City Council to look into the “sad plight” of their members rather than to issue harsh statements that may hurt and destroy their image to the public.

PNA President Edith Rose Santos was reacting to the resolution passed by the City Council asking their association to look into the incident where a nurse of the Cebu Maternity House taped the mouth of a child under her care to prevent him from crying.

Santos claimed that she and her members felt bad because of the wordings of the council’s resolution, which states that the inhumane act of taping the baby’s mouth is a “reflection on the current crop of nurses that we have today.”

It was Councilor Lea Japson who sponsored the resolution asking the Philippine Nurse’s Association to look into the case. The City Council passed Japson’s proposed resolution, which also asked the management of the Cebu Puericulture and Maternity House to cooperate in the investigation.

Santos claimed that their group is looking after the best interest and welfare of its members but it has also not been remiss in its duty to look into the case, but she clarified that the Philippine Nurses Association is not a regulatory body.

In her two-page letter sent to the City Council, Santos said it is not only unfair, but it is highly unjust to tarnish the reputation of the entire organization by “unfounded and baseless motherhood statements and sweeping generalization.”

“It does not bode well for the honorable members of the City’s Legislative Body to add insult to injury, not wanting to put flesh on the idiom, kicking a man when he is down,” she added.

The public was quick to condemn the acts of the nurses who were deemed responsible for placing plaster or tape on the mouth of babies at the private maternity house. This act is also no longer allowed under the policy of the Department of Health.

Santos claimed that “our entire membership is sick with overbearing and appalling attacks against the nurses dulled by repetition in a whole host of issues. The approach shows ludicrous presumptions and speculations that does not bode well for both the distressed nurses and theatrical accusers.”

The nurses’ head appealed to the city legislators for fairness and that everything should be carried out strictly within the legal framework.

“We take this opportunity to request the city government to look into the sad plight of our nurses under your watch,” they said.

The City Council did not make further comments regarding Santos’ letter.

 The Commission on Human Rights is conducting an investigation into the actions of the nurse who sealed the baby’s mouth and is expected to release its findings days from now.

The board of trustees of the Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House had earlier apologized for the incident that made the rounds of headlines early in May.

After a photograph of baby Yohannes Noval came out in the Internet with his mouth sealed with plaster, the parents or guardians of four other babies have also come forward to claim the same thing was done to their babies.

The management of the maternity house clarified that the practice of placing tape on the mouth of babies is strictly prohibited.

 It further said its Board of Trustees welcomes the investigation and will abide by the outcome and decision of the investigating body. —/BRP (FREEMAN)