Malacañang on Tuesday supported the proposal of Senator Richard Gordon to probe parent influx of foreign doctors in the Philippines. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters Gordon was correct in his idea of investigating the “whys and wherefores” of the foreign medical professionals.
“There are too many [Filipino] doctors who go to other countries and maybe we have fewer doctors here, and that’s why the foreign ones can enter,” Panelo said.
“So that’s right. He should really investigate the whys and the wherefores of this influx of foreign doctors in the country to know the reasons.”
But Panelo did not discount the possibility that other countries could also experience the same problem with Filipino medical practitioners.
Over the weekend, Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, suggested a Senate probe on an alleged syndicate that facilitates the entry and employment of foreign doctors into the country to practice medicine in some hospitals without having the necessary permits.
He caught wind of the supposed influx when he stumbled into the “racket employed by a syndicate” under a government-run hospital named after his late father in Olongapo City.
According to Gordon, the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital houses several Pakistani and Nepalese doctors who practice medicine as medical consultants.
“I am concerned because they are allowed to deal with patients on a one-on-one basis, they prescribe medicines. The patients hardly understand them. I have been able to confirm the complaints,” Gordon said.
“Are they supervised by Filipino doctors? Are they even allowed to practice medicine here? As I understand it, we only have a reciprocity principal with Japan, Spain and the United States, including ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements.
“First, there are Chinese workers competing with Filipino workers. Now there are foreign doctors. This should be stopped because this concerns the health and well-being of the public and I fear that this is being practiced not just in Olongapo but in other areas, too.”
The Professional Regulation Commission is empowered “to approve the registration of and authorize the issuance of a certificate of registration/license and professional identification card… to a foreigner who is registered under the laws of his state or country and whose certificate of registration issued therein has not been suspended or revoked.”
The requirements for the registration or licensing in the foreign state or country are “substantially the same as those required and contemplated by the laws of the Philippines, and that the laws of such foreign state or country allow the citizens of the Philippines to practice the profession on the same basis and grant the same privileges as those enjoyed by the subjects or citizens of such foreign state or country.”
