MANILA — The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has suspended the medical license of physician and former government official Lorraine Badoy-Partosa for six months after finding that she violated the medical code of ethics through unsupported public statements in 2021 that linked healthcare workers to communist groups.
In a 14-page decision dated May 8, the PRC’s Board of Medicine ruled that Badoy-Partosa violated the Revised Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession after it found that she acted with bad faith and malice by making unsupported statements against the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and community physician Natividad “Doc Naty” Castro.
Badoy-Partosa served as spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) when she wrote in her Philippine News Agency column on April 7, 2021, that the AHW and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers were created by communist insurgents to infiltrate the government.
She also alleged that the AHW had infiltrated government hospitals, including the Philippine General Hospital, Philippine Orthopedic Center, Lung Center of the Philippines and other public health facilities.
Badoy-Partosa separately accused Castro, who worked at Community-Based Health Program-Butuan Inc., of serving as a member, recruiter, trainer and fundraiser for the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed and political organizations. She also repeated the allegations through official NTF-Elcac communication channels and her program on Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
The AHW and other medical organizations filed administrative complaints against Badoy-Partosa before the PRC in 2022.
The Board of Medicine said Badoy-Partosa failed to present evidence to support her statements and failed to protect the reputation of fellow physicians and allied health professionals affiliated with the AHW and community health programs.
The board also noted that the Department of Health had publicly denounced her remarks against healthcare workers. It ruled that although her statements were not connected to the practice of medicine, they still made her administratively liable under the medical profession’s code of ethics.
The PRC said Badoy-Partosa may resume medical practice only after submitting an affidavit of compliance with the suspension order.
Lawyer Rico Domingo, founding chair of the Movement Against Disinformation (MAD), which supported some of the complainants, said a physician’s license carries public trust and should not be used to make unsupported accusations.
Human rights lawyer and MAD president Tony La Viña described the suspension as a form of accountability, saying unsupported public accusations could harm reputations and public trust.
The PRC’s order adds to previous sanctions against Badoy-Partosa. In 2024, a Quezon City court ordered her and fellow SMNI commentator Jeffrey Celiz to pay broadcast journalist Atom Araullo P2.08 million in damages over defamatory statements.
