‘taped’ baby (File Photo)
Day one of a joint investigation into the May 9 baby-taping incident in a private maternity hospital had parents of the infant submitting digital images stored in their cell phone and a laptop computer.
“It would be very illogical for us to fabricate stories or put a tape on our own baby,” said Ryan Noval, Fil-Am father of baby Yohannes.
Noval and the child’s mother, Jasmine Badocdoc, attended a closed-door meeting of the joint panel at the Departmen of Health (DOH) regional office about 2 p.m.
The mother presented her white Android cellphone, which she had used to take photos of baby Yohannes showing his mouth covered with clear adhesive tape on May 9 in the nursery of the Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House Inc., where she had given birth earlier on May 3.
Images were downloaded from the phone’s memory card and printed out for the panel. The same was done by the couple for photos posted in their separate Facebook accounts.
The images will be examined to check if these were edited or digitally altered, said legal officer Alan Felix Maracaya Jr. of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), a panel member.
Results will be presented 2 p.m. tomorrow when the preliminary investigation resumes.
On Friday, administrators and still-unnamed staff of the private hospital will be summoned to appear before the panel.
Lawyer Dante Jadman of Commission on Human Rights (CHR-7), which chairs the panel, said the panel was “not satisfied” with the written responses of the management, hence the need to call them.
“The institutional report that they sent is not considered valid since it is merely a denial,” he said.
The two-page “Institutional Report” signed by medical director Dr. Raida G. Varona was sent by a messenger yesterday to the DOH 7. Varona insisted that the nurses did not see any tape on the baby’s face or a pacifier.
The inter-agency group is headed by the CHR and has member representatives of the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7), Women and Children Protection of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). They started the meeting at 2 p.m after receiving the letter.
It contained a brief chronology of events from the birth of baby Yohannes on May 3 to the discovery of the controversial photos on Facebook with the parent’s account “Nightmare@Maternity Hospital”.
“It is our firm conviction and we do trust that our nurses did not put the plaster or could they ever think of putting plaster on both the upper and lower lip of the baby,” Varona wrote.
“We are at a loss on the presence of the pacifier since baby Badocdoc is a breastfed infant.
The institution has instructed well all its employees and health workers involved about the hospital rules and regulations and we are not remiss in reminding them,” she added.
The baby was born on May 3 through a normal delivery. The mother was discharged on May 8 while the baby remained a “temporary boarder” in the Special Intensive Care Unit (SICU) to continue medication as advised by the pediatrician.
There were several staff on duty, said Varona, and the baby was endorsed to the incoming shift at 3 p.m. but the nurse in-charge “did not see any plaster or pacifier”.
“We would like to stress at this point that pacifiers are prohibited for breastfeeding infants. Also, we are conscious with our responsibility because we are accredited as a mother-baby friendly hospital,” Varona stated.
Based on the hospital’s in-house inquiry, the mother breastfed the baby at about 7:50 p.m. of May 9, a Friday. A few minutes before this, she called the attention of the nurse about the tape on her child’s face.
During the hospital investigation, “The nurse claimed that she was surprised to see the plaster on the baby’s lip. However, other than calling the attention of the nurse, no complaint whatsoever was brought to the attention of the institution for recording purposes.”
The hospital director said the SICU is a sterile area where only mothers who are breastfeeding are allowed to enter the Mother and Child Room (MCR).
The medical director said she got a report that the baby’s biological father entered the MCR wearing street clothes and bringing a backpack without permission.
The summons to hospital representatives will be obeyed once it is received, said lawyer Cornelio Mercado when Cebu Daily News called him last night.
Earlier in a press conference, CHR’s Jadman said that if they don’t show up, the different government agencies would go ahead and file appropriate charges.
Mercado, in response, said “I hope it’s not a sign of pre-judgement of the case.”
Armond Englis of the Professional Regulation Commission-Cebu said that if the parties involved are found to have broken the law, their licenses can be revoked.
In the same press conference with inter-agency panel members, Noval said he would continue his quest for justice and to see reforms made.
“It’s not fun for us to do this. This is actually hell. It would be very illogical for us to put a tape on our baby and fabricate stories. This notion from their side (the hospital) angers me,” he said.
“I’m hoping that this experience will awaken others, and that no other children will experience it again,” Noval added.
He said the hospital’s denial was something they expected.
“We are ready to face it. Defend yourselves. You play dirty but we will still play clean,” he said.
“Mura ra ni ug aso, di makumkum, madugay mugawas ra jud ang tinood.”
The couple earlier said they were consulting two lawyers to draft a formal complaint.