Suspended Badoy still Red-tagging, PRC told
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) on Tuesday urged the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to look into the alleged “continuing violation” being committed by Lorraine Badoy, who was suspended in May from practicing medicine for six months for “Red-tagging” the group and its members.
In its manifestation with urgent motion, the AHW asked the PRC to investigate Badoy’s “unethical and unprofessional” behavior of continuing to brand the group as a front for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed and political wings.
The group said that she made the claim through her Facebook account “Lorraine Baddie” days after the PRC resolution dated May 8 that ordered her suspension became public in June.
The regulatory body’s Board of Medicine had found Badoy guilty of violating the Revised Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession for acting with “bad faith and malice” with her “disreputable statements” against AHW and community doctor Natividad “Doc Naty” Castro. The board acted on a 2022 administrative case filed against her over her repeated accusations against the health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Badoy, however, seemed unfazed by the suspension order as she posted on Facebook that she “correctly identified” the group as a front of the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) during her time as the strategic communications cluster head of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict or NTF-Elcac.
“That the (AHW) is a front of the CPP-NPA-NDF is not my personal opinion but the official stand of the Philippine government. Notably, the Board of Medicine did not state that my declarations were false,” she said in a June 28 post.
“They merely ruled that I lacked formal documentation from pertinent government agencies at the time. I deliberately chose not to appeal this decision because we have bigger battles to fight as a nation,” she added.
A day later, Badoy tagged an Inquirer report on the matter as “ fake news, “ despite the actual PRC decision being cited.
Further violations
The AHW noted that she went on to make similar accusations on July 5 and July 7, rehashing the remarks she made against various individuals and organizations, including the PRC.
“The continuation of such statements despite the PRC sanction raises serious concerns about whether the disciplinary action has been sufficiently heeded,” AHW national president Bonifacio Carmona Jr. said in a statement.
Carmona stressed that Badoy’s remarks need to be urgently probed to determine “whether they constitute further violations of the standards governing the medical profession.”
AHW secretary general Cristy Donguines expressed concern over the “serious and potentially dangerous consequences” that continuous Red-tagging might have on the safety of healthcare workers and others concerned.
“We, health workers, are already working under extremely difficult conditions. We are overworked, underpaid, faced with job insecurity, and often work with inadequate resources, yet we continue to serve our people with dedication and compassion. And on top of all this, we are being publicly tagged as enemies of the state simply because we are doing our jobs and standing up for the health and welfare of our patients,” Donguines said.
In February 2024, the Supreme Court found Badoy, also former NTF-Elcac spokesperson, guilty of indirect contempt for Red-tagging a Manila judge who had dismissed the government’s case to declare the CPP-NPA as terrorist organizations.
The high tribunal ordered her to pay a fine of P30,000 and warned that committing the same or a similar act in the future would be met with a more severe punishment.
In December 2024, a Quezon City court ordered Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz, her Sonshine Media Network International cohost, to pay broadcast journalist Atom Araullo P2 million in damages for Red-tagging him and his mother.
