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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Dapat may masampolan': Solon hails arrest warrant vs 'palit-ulo' culprits

'Dapat may masampolan': Solon hails arrest warrant vs 'palit-ulo' culprits

Published May 14, 2024 10:48 am

At A Glance

  • AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee lauded the issuance of arrest warrants against officials of a private hospital in Valenzuela City who were allegedly involved with the "palit-ulo" scheme.
  • The scheme refers to the illegal hospital detention of relatives of the deceased patients, and the refusal to release the death certificate and other relevant medical documents due to unsettled bills of the patient, forcing those detained to find a replacement before they are allowed to leave the premises of the hospital.

IMG-2f62d00159d501b0237d99ec737de464-V.jpgAGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee (Rep. Lee's office)

AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee has hailed the issuance of arrest warrants against officials of a private hospital in Valenzuela City who were allegedly involved in the “palit-ulo” scheme.

“Magandang development ang paglalabas ng korte ng warrant of arrest laban sa mga opisyal ng ospital na sangkot sa walang puso at walang malasakit na kalakarang ito,” Lee said in a statement.

(It is a welcome development that the court issued an arrest warrant against the hospital officials involved in this heartless and careless practice.)

“Dapat may masampolan agad sa mala-demonyong gawaing ito para matigil na at hindi pamarisan ng iba. ‘Yung gumagawa nito ang dapat ipakulong. Isipin po ninyo: namatayan na nga’t nagluluksa, ikukulong pa nila sa ospital?” he stressed.

(Someone should be immediately apprehended because of this demonic act so that it can stop and not be emulated by others. Those who did this should be jailed. Think about it: a person who is mourning, and they want to keep them in the hospital?)

On Friday, May 10, the Valenzuela Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) Branch 109 issued arrest orders against six medical staff and officials of Allied Care Experts (ACE) Medical Hospital in Valenzuela City.

Lee earlier filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1674 to probe the “palit-ulo” scheme, which literally translates to “exchange heads”.

The scheme refers to the illegal hospital detention of relatives of the deceased patients, and the refusal to release the death certificate and other relevant medical documents due to unsettled bills of the patient.

With this, the detained relatives are forced to find a replacement before they are allowed to leave the premises of the hospital.

Under his resolution, Lee said the perpetrators of this practice are criminally liable for Serious Illegal Detention and Slight Illegal Detention under the Revised Penal Code.

“Dapat lang na agarang maimbestigahan ng Kongreso ang ilegal na gawaing ito para alamin kung gaano na ito katagal nangyayari at kung ilan pang mga ospital ang gumagawa nito,” the solon said.

(Congress should immediately investigate this illegal practice to find out how long it has been going on and how many other hospitals are doing it.)

“Malamang, marami pang unreported cases kaugnay nito, at umaasa tayo na lalabas pa ang ibang mga biktima para ipahayag ang kanilang karanasan,” Lee said.

(There are probably more unreported cases related to this, and we hope that other victims will come forward to tell their experience.)

Related Tags

Valenzuela wilbert lee palit-ulo
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