Inquirer’s Gideon Lasco expressed his opinion on plastic surgery.
GIDEON LASCO – A writer of Philippine Daily Inquirer, Gideon Lasco, expressed his side regarding the plastic surgery in an opinion article.
In an opinion article entitled When plastic surgery goes wrong which was posted in Inquirer, Lasco cited those individuals who went through unsuccessful cosmetic surgery procedures.
The columnist cited Mary Jane Pereira, the 29-year-old overseas Filipino worker who died in 2008 while a liposuction was conducted on her in Quezon City and Louem Martinez, the 34-year-old man who filed charges against a clinic in Makati as he claimed that his organ had been deformed by a p3nis enlargement operation.
Lasco also cited Ellowe Alviso who was a local model before and reportedly suffered from disfigured face after certain solutions were injected on his chin and nose.
According to the writer, those cases have “valence in a country where many are obsessed with not just beauty pageants but also the pageantry of everyday life.”
He also stated that the response of the people to such cases speak about the citizens’ ideals of beauty and health, shared values, and expectations.
Lasco also cited in his opinion article Shiryl Saturnino, the 29-year-old businesswoman who died after going through three cosmetic surgery procedures.
The writer stated that lots of people tag Saturnino as a ‘beautiful woman’ and that she “should have been contented with what God gave her.”
The writer also raised the other side – the side of the people who are against “victim blaming”. He cited the question raised by a netizen: “Aren’t we all trying to make ourselves more attractive?”
The netizen also added that those people who tagged Saturnino as “discontented” are having makeup in the profile pictures on the social media.
According to Lasco, the case of Saturnino and those previously cited should not end up in a point where there is blaming. The medical staff who performed the surgeries should not also be “prejudged” as to him.
The writer cited what a Philippine General Hospital longtime plastic surgeon, Dr. Jose Joven Cruz, told him.
According to him, Dr. Cruz expressed to him that “there are four factors that could have gone wrong: the patient, the healthcare providers, the facilities, and the procedure itself.”
The article also mentioned the various reasons why some individuals opted to undergo cosmetic surgeries.
According to him, it cannot be denied as a “vanity.” He stated that for Saturnino and Ellowe, a more pleasing physical appearance can pave the way to economic progress.
The writer also cited that “mental health issues” could also be the reason or it is because of the building of self-esteem and confidence of a person. He also cited that the people’s beauty preference.
Lasco, however, emphasized that it does not take away the duty of those who are providing beauty products and services in managing the expectation of the patients, “upholding highest standards of safety,” and telling their clients about the risk.
“Everyone deserves a chance to wake up from plastic surgery and be able to look at themselves in a mirror.”
The death of Saturnino, the woman cited by Lasco, has sparked lots of news headlines.
Based on a previous news report, the police are already planning to file a complaint against the medical staff after they were not able to submit their statements.
The result of Saturnino’s autopsy revealed that ‘multiple organ failure secondary to complications of cosmetic surgical procedures’ was the cause of her death.