By Lane Afable, News Editor
The Parañaque 10th City Council passed on third reading an ordinance requiring all hospitals, clinics, and medical institutions in the locality to recognize healthcare proxies, a move seen to benefit LGBTQIA+ couples, persons in nontraditional households, unmarried couples, and others in similar situations.
According to City Vice Mayor Benjo Bernabe, the “Parañaque Right to Care Ordinance” makes the city the third in Metro Manila to enact such a measure.
Quezon City and San Juan are the two other Metro Manila local government units that have adopted or pioneered the “Right to Care” ordinance.
Under the approved ordinance, individuals may designate a trusted person — not necessarily a relative — to make medical decisions on their behalf through a notarized healthcare proxy or special power of attorney.
Once a patient is declared medically incapable of making decisions, hospitals must honor the designated agent’s authority.
Without a healthcare proxy, hospitals typically default to immediate family members, such as parents, siblings, or legal spouses, for consent.
The ordinance defines a healthcare proxy as a notarized document authorizing another adult to:
Consent to or refuse medical treatment
Access medical records necessary for decision-making
Exercise authority over other persons making decisions for the patient, unless limited in the proxy.
The City Health Office, assisted by the City Legal Office, is mandated to facilitate the execution and registration of health care proxies.
All registered documents must bear the official stamp of the City Health Office before hospitals are required to honor them.
Hospitals and clinics that refuse to recognize valid healthcare proxies face fines of up to P5,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, at the court’s discretion, while violating establishments may also have their business permits revoked.
The ordinance provides protection from civil, criminal, and administrative liability for healthcare providers and agents acting in good faith under a valid proxy.
An emergency provision allows medical personnel to perform life-saving measures when immediate action is required and compliance is impracticable.
“In such case, the healthcare provider shall submit a report thereafter to the City Health Office stating the nature of the emergency and the actions taken that will justify non-adherence to the provisions of this ordinance,” the ordinance read.
The measure’s proponents and sponsors include Councilors Jerome Bart Frias, Maria Kristine Esplana, Shiella Benzon, Allen Ford Tan, Carina Gabriel, Raquel Gabriel-Velasco, Charles Yeoj Marquez, Pablo Olivarez II, Daniel Eric Baes, John Ryan Yllana, Jose Enrico Golez, Brillante Inciong, Maritess De Asis, Vincent Kenneth Favis, Viktor Eriko Sotto, Shannin Mae Olivarez-Bernardo, and Liga ng mga Barangay President Noel Japlos.
It will take effect 15 days after completion of the publication requirements mandated by law.
