Hundreds of optometrists across the country are asking Congress to pass the Enhanced Vision Care bill.
The Bill, which will be explained during the 69th annual national convention of the Optometric Association of the Philippines to be held in Dumaguete, will make optometrists more accountable to their patients; and allow them to prescribe not only diagnostic drugs but also therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for better patient care.
Dr. Rosalie Mildred Santillan-Badon, president of the Negros Oriental Optometric Society, said the optometrists have initially discussed with Negros Oriental 2nd District Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria about sponsoring the Bill in Congress.
Dr. Badon added that the proposed Bill also seeks to ban “indirect practice” by big corporations that mainly operate as business for refraction purposes only. She said it puts licensed optometrists who are bound to a Code of Ethics at a disadvantage.
The proposed Bill would also seek to allow the doctors of optometry to establish extension clinics or branches under the same optometrist, and pay taxes only for one business name.
Dr. Christopher Buniel, president of the Optometric Association of the Philippines, said that during the three-day national convention that begins May 1st, the optometrists will not only learn developments in their profession but will also learn about the environment. They chose this year’s theme as: Outside the Clinic: ODs and the Environment having a Whale of a Time in Dumaguete.
Philippine Daily Inquirer Day Desk chief Michael Lim Ubac will keynote the event on May 2, and will talk about optometrists’ role in the time of climate change.
Ubac finished last year his Master of Liberal Arts program at the Harvard University Division of Continuing Education with distinction, and won one of the eight Director’s Prize for Outstanding ALM Thesis. At Harvard, Ubac worked on his research titled Building Climate Resiliency in the Philippines: A Bottom-Up Approach to Implementing Disaster Risk-Reduction Strategies through Analysis of the Impacts of Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013.
Representing the academe as keynote speaker is Silliman University President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III who will share Silliman lessons and how these can be applied in the ODs’ profession.
Other keynote speakers are Dr. Sandra Stein Block form the Illinois College of Optometry who will talk on pediatric optometry; and Dr. Hildegardes Dineros, CEO and president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
Dr. Dineros pioneered in bariatric and metabolic surgery in the country, and is also an expert in aesthetic and plastic surgery.
Dr. Jehan Zaragoza-Echavez, executive director of OAP, added that other speakers during the workshops include: Dr. April Nayve, Dr. Jeanette Romualdez-Oo, Dr. Kyle Galias, Dr. Giovanni Almachar, Zamboanga del Norte chapter president Dr. Bernadeth Fellazar, Dr. Jette Endi-Fabros, Dr. John Paul Lam, Dr. Goeffrey Co, Dr. Patrick Santiago, and Keren Fernandez, a practitioner in the US.
Jaab Arjasepp will speak on efficient clinical practice using the digital platform; while lawyer Bayani Abesamis will conduct a Legal Café on May 2 and 3 at the SU University House where delegates to the national convention can bring up their concerns in an increasingly-litigious society.
Echavez said there will also be a trade fair by 15 optometry suppliers from here and abroad.
Other officers of the Negros Oriental Optometric Society include Dr. Janice Joyce Santillan as vice president, Dr. Rheza Marisse Badon-Tabasuares as secretary and the 2017 national convention chair, Dr. Vicky Santiago as treasurer, and Dr. Elmore Baylon Jr. as PRO. (Irma Faith Pal)
