New rules governing foreign medical missions in the Philippines are
dampening the enthusiasm of some Filipino-Americans at a time when Philippine
officials are precisely calling on them to “give back” to the mother country.
Many are complaining that helping Filipinos back home just got
more complicated.
“When the requirement becomes too difficult, less physicians will
volunteer their time to join medical missions,” Maryland-based Dr. Zorayda
Lee-Llacer told the Manila Mail.
“To me this is R.I.P. to our enviable, proud tradition of giving
back to our less fortunate fellow countrymen,” rued Juan Montero II of Chesapeake , Va.
in an email seen by the Manila Mail.
At least one Fil-Am group has already decided to put-off a
scheduled medical-surgical mission to San
Jose , Antique in mid-January 2013.
The Philippine Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) started to
implement last July a new set of guidelines that puts into motion a law signed
by then President Joseph Estrada, among the last bills he approved before being
ousted in a People Power revolt almost 12 years ago.
Efforts to spare Fil-Am physicians doing volunteer work in the Philippines
have apparently been ongoing for the past several years. Now they are upset
that the PRC is actually pushing through with the new requirements.
The guidelines are contained in a resolution approved last June 21
that stipulated, among others, non-Filipino professionals who intend to
practice a profession in the Philippines – including those joining
short-duration volunteer missions – to register or secure special temporary
permits from the PRC and the respective Professional Regulatory Boards.
The rules covered foreign nationals in the Philippines
through international treaty or agreements, including those working for foreign
companies or aid organizations, and “former Filipino professionals”.
The special temporary permits are valid for only one year but can
be extended. The permits can be obtained by paying a P3,000 ($73) application
fee, P8,000 ($195) for the cost of the ID itself and the purchase of liability
insurance.
Foreign doctors need to produce a copy of their passport, an
authenticated copy of the professional license issued by their country of
origin, proof of purchase of liability insurance in the Philippines and
the Special Temporary Permit.
Balikbayan Filipino physicians may opt to renew their Philippine
licenses by showing their old PRC identification card, a copy of their license
or registration issued by their adopted country and payment of a penalty
equivalent to the number of years they allowed their Philippine license to
expire.
Pablito Alarcon said he’s been trying to renew his Philippine
geodetic engineer’s license but one requirement is to attend a seminar and join
the Geodetic Engineer Association of the Philippines .
But he noted the seminar is not available on-line which poses a
major stumbling block for engineers like him who may wish to use skills and
experience, honed by years of working in the US, to help countrymen back home.
Dr. Lee-Llacer says that while she agrees aggrieved families
should be compensated for medical malpractice, that could be a tempting target
for opportunistic lawyers.
“Malpractice insurance is the red meat for tort lawyers. Haven't
we learned that in US and guess what has happened to our unaffordable
healthcare system?” Dr. Montero asked.
“When we
go on surgical missions, we spend our own money for the air fare to the Philippines . We
bring a significant amount of surgical supplies that we give to the hospital.
We spend our valuable time collecting and packing these supplies. We spend
money from our own pockets to ship these supplies. This is a labor of love,”
Dr. Lee-Llacer stressed.
She added
that proof of a valid license especially those issued in the US should
suffice to establish the competence of visiting Fil-Am professionals. “Those
are not easy to get,” she argued, “the US requires many proofs of training
and specialty certifications. All states monitor the practice of every
physician.”
“My
husband and I have been members of the Maryland Medical State Board, each one
of us served 8 years which is a total of 16 years,” she pointed out.
Dr. Lee-Llacer added that in most instances, medical-surgical
missions by visiting Fil-Am doctors and nurses are pre-approved by medical
organizations in the targeted beneficiary areas, and they submit reports to
local government and village officials before leaving.
“We do not want to compete with the income of local
practitioners,” she told the Manila Mail.
The need for help from overseas Filipinos couldn’t have been more
relevant with days of torrential rains flooding large parts of the Metro Manila
region and surrounding provinces.