PRC suspends vlogger’s medical license over Red-tagging
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has suspended physician Lorraine Badoy-Partosa, who is also a political vlogger and a former government official, from medical practice for half a year over her remarks five years ago which “Red-tagged” or branded some healthcare workers as communist sympathizers without any proof.
In a 14-page decision dated May 8, the PRC’s Board of Medicine said Badoy-Partosa violated the Revised Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession when she “acted with bad faith and malice” with her “disreputable statements” in 2021 against the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and community doctor Natividad “Doc Naty” Castro.
‘Infiltration’
Badoy was then spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).
Writing in her “From Where I Sit” column for the Philippine News Agency on April 7, 2021, Badoy-Partosa claimed the AHW and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers were created by communist insurgents “precisely for the infiltration of the government.”
She also accused the AHW of “infiltrating” state-run hospitals, such as the Philippine General Hospital, Philippine Orthopedic Center, Lung Center of the Philippines and other regional, provincial and barangay health facilities.
Badoy-Partosa accused Castro, who worked at the Community-Based Health Program-Butuan Inc., of being an active member, recruiter, trainer and fundraiser of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed and political wings.
She also reiterated her claims against AHW in the official channels of the NTF-Elcac and in her program on Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
‘Not backed by evidence’
In 2022, AHW and other medical groups filed administrative complaints against her before the PRC.
In its ruling, the Board of Medicine noted that she “was not backed by evidence when she made disreputable statements” in her column.
“Clearly, she failed to protect not just the good name of a colleague but of the entire community of physicians and allied health professionals who are members of the AHW and those who are engaged in community health service,” the board said.
It also noted that “even the DOH (Department of Health) had to denounce [her] discriminatory remarks against healthcare workers,” adding that she was “still bound by her responsibilities toward the profession, her colleagues and allied health professionals.”
“Finally, it must be underscored that the acts committed by [Badoy-Partosa are] not connected with the practice of medicine [but] still make …her administratively liable” the board said
Badoy-Partosa may only regain her license after she files an affidavit of compliance, the board said.
Lawyer Rico Domingo—founding chair of the group Movement against Disinformation (MAD), which supported some of the complainants—said Badoy-Partosa’s license as a doctor “carries public trust” and “cannot become a shield for reckless, evidence-free vilification.”
‘Accountability’
Human rights lawyer and MAD president Tony La Viña said Badoy-Partosa’s suspension is “not censorship [but] accountability.”
“The PRC decision recognizes what victims of disinformation have long known—unsupported labels can endanger lives, damage reputations, and poison public trust,” La Viña said.
The PRC suspension order was the latest sanction against Badoy-Partosa.
In 2024, she and fellow SMNI commentator Jeffrey Celiz were ordered by a Quezon City court to pay broadcast journalist Atom Araullo P2.08 million in damages for their defamatory remarks against him.
