Docs decry moonlight raps

Doctors of the government-run Lung Center of the Philippines decried yesterday the "moonlighting" charges leveled against them, saying they only conduct private practice after office hours to cope up with the rising cost of living.

Dr. Jose Pepito Amores, spokesman of the 15 Lung Center doctors accused of moonlighting told reporters at the weekly Fernandina Forum in Greenhills that they only practice in private after office hours to augment their salaries which are not enough to support their families.

"We have to face reality. We have families to support. We cannot do that with our salaries alone. We have to augment it through private practice, and we do so without compromising our public duty. We strongly deny any accusation of wrongdoing", he said.

Amores, the deputy hospital director, was reacting to allegations of suspended director Dr. Fernando Melendrez that most of the doctors at the Lung Center of the Philippines had falsified their daily time records by making it appear that they reported for work when in fact they are out attending their private patients.

Melendres who was also present during the forum alleged that he has documentary evidence to probe that the doctors punched in their daily time record in the morning left the hospital and return in the evening to punch out their cards.

"They falsified their daily time records," Melendrez said.

Amores, however, said as trained chest specialists and surgeons they usually leave hospital premises to attend workshop seminars on the management of chest and lung diseases to update their skills.

He said they are falsely being portrayed as delinquent doctors who are more concerned with private practice than with the service.

The doctor said their duties cannot be counted as eight-to-five work because as public servants they are on call 24 hours a day to answer any medical emergency, aside from proving service to patients in the wards and out patient clinics.

Amores claimed the issue on tampered daily time records raised by Melendrez was simply a smoke screen to divert the alleged anomalies in the said hospital. – Perseus Echeminada, Rainier Allan Ronda