Chief Justice has word for doctors in wake of Iggy Agbayani case

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on Wednesday had a message for doctors after the case of Dr. Iggy Agbayani supposedly caused some concern in the medical community.

According to Saleema Refran's report on "24 Oras," the Supreme Court is looking into Agbayani's case who was convicted of reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries. He died while detained at the Manila City Jail.

The case against Agbayani was filed by a patient, a lawyer who suffered post-surgery complications. 

"Nabasa ko sa social media na parang natakot na yung mga duktor na gumamot ng mga abugado at mga huwes," Agbayani said.

"Kawawa naman... lalo na ako sakitin na ako. Baka wala nang duktor na manggamot sa akin pag pumunta ako sa ER pag nalaman na ikaw 'yung Chief Justice," he added.

(I read in the social media that doctors seem to be afraid in treating lawyers and judges. It's a pity... especially in my case because I've been sickly. There might be no one to attend to me if they learn that I'm the Chief Justice.)

"Baka sabihin delikado tayo dito. Hindi naman dapat ganun... Kung ang mga abugado may sinumpaang tungkulin, ang mga doctor may sinumpaan ding tungkulin," Gesmundo said.

"I hope they will also keep faith to their oath of profession," he added.

(They might say we're placing ourselves at risk. That should not be the case. If lawyers have a sworn duty, so do the doctors.)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will look into Agbayani's case.

“Iche-check namin kung anong nangyari talaga roon. Hindi kami basta puwede magsabi na ganito ang gagawin. Rerepasuhin namin… at base sa kung anong naging resulta, maaari kaming gumawa ng mga bagong instruction o rules para ‘wag na maulit ‘yung ganitong sitwasyon,” Gesmundo said at a press briefing.

(We will check what happened. We can’t just say that this is what we will do. We will review it and based on the results, we may create new instructions or new rules so the same situation will not happen again.)

Asked what he meant, Gesmundo said that there may have been some lapses committed by the lawyer.

“Apparently, there was, I don’t know, there were some lapses committed by the lawyer. I think that’s the main... the root cause of the issues that came out,” Gesmundo said.  

“So naglagay tayo ng CPRA ‘di ba, Code of Professional Responsibility… let’s take a look, the CPRA is not enough to be able to address these incidents where lawyers are apparently not doing their task effectively and efficiently to protect the interest of their client. We will look into that,” he added.

In November, several doctors and medical professionals asked for a judicial review of Agbayani’s case.

Agbayani was detained in May  after a court convicted him of reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries. An online petition is now being conducted for a judicial review of the case. —Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News