Philippine Society of Gastroenterology
 Annual Business Meeting
March 11, 2010
6:30 PM – Isla Ballroom, EDSA Shangri-La Hotel
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Fiscal Year 2009-2010
Randy S. Mercado, M.D.

To the Council of Past Presidents, Officers and Members of the Board of Directors, Chairs and Members of the Specialty and Accreditation Board, Chairs and Members of the various Councils, Diplomates and Fellows, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

After your President assumed office last March 2009, we started to embarked with the usual programs of the Society in accordance with our constitution and By-laws, to fulfill the objectives of the Society according to the mission vision statement.  However, the stability of the Society was rocked by the discovery of a huge Fund Misappropriation perpetuated by all the active employees of the Society who had been with us for no less than a decade.  Immediately, the Board took the following actions:

1. Engaged the services of a Legal Counsel, Atty. Harold Banzuela, former partner of the Tañada Law Office.

2. Engaged the services of an Accounting Firm, Danao and Associates, to perform external audit of our books from 2009 retrogressive to 2006.

3. Termination of  Ms. Maricon Sevilla - Administrative Officer, Ms. Merlita Pagul – Secretary, and Ms.Arlene Revaldo- Messenger in accordance with labor laws. 

4. Termination of our accountant, Mr. Cesar Ravalo.  We contracted the services of the Calleja Law Office and a case is being filed with the Professional Regulation Commission against Mr. Ravalo for negligence.

5. Criminal case of qualified theft which is a non-bailable offense was filed at the Quezon City Hall of Justice last August 2009 against Ms. Maricon Sevilla. Presently, the case against Ms. Maricon Sevilla is already for review by the Senior Fiscal prior to elevation to the Judge who will issue a warrant of arrest.

6. Preparations for filing of a case of estafa, a bailable offense against Ms. Merlita Pagul. However, she expressed her willingness to pay the the amount of P130,000.00 in small equal installment of P2,500.00 per month.  More importantly, she has conveyed her willingness to stand as a witness against Ms. Maricon Sevilla for the case of qualified theft.

7. In the Board’s effort to recover loss funds from BPI, BPI Family Bank and RCBC for negligence and failure to follow bank SOP’s such as reconfirming and informing PSG signatories on certain transactions, withdrawals and transfer of funds involving sizeable amounts of money, as well as permitting closure of  a Peso and Dollar Time Deposit  without a duly accompanied Board Resolutions for each termination of account, the Board have already filed  formal complaints against the above mentioned banks.  We are awaiting for the formal response from both RCBC and BPI regarding our complaints.

Taking much of the time of the Board and sidetracking us from continuing with the regular activities of the Society, the present Board was still able to achieve some modest gains despite the odds.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Commitment to Continuing Medical Education (CME)

The Committee on Scientific Activity chaired by Dr. Jane Campos was able to successfully hold 3 post graduate courses. First was in August 22, 2009 held in Laguna with 54 attendees for the postgraduate and 43 for the Lay Forum. Another was held in Dagupan last February 7, 2010, with 65 attendees for the postgraduate and 73 for the lay forum. Final lay forum for this year was held last February 27, 2010 at General Santos City having 63 attendees for the postgraduate.

The topics that were discussed during the post-graduate course include Probiotics and Prebiotics, GERD, NAFLD, Hepatitis B infection, Nutrition in Liver Disease and Colorectal screening and surveillance. Lay fora topics were Abakada ng Hepa, Nutrition in Common GI Disorders, Colon Cancer, and Vaccination. It was only in General Santos City that we were not able to conduct a lay fora due to time constraint as well as difficulty in gathering an audience due to distance. 

The 2009 PSG Midyear Convention Chaired by Dr. Marceliano T. Aquino, Jr.,was held last October 16-17, 2009 at the Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City.  The theme of this year’s convention is: “ I DARe GI!”
(Important Decision Aids in Resolving Perplexing GI cases). This was attended by 429 delegates broken down as 194 members and 229 non-members.  It was a success in terms of the lecture topics, attendance and revenue.

This year’s 2010 Philippine Digestive Health Week and the 2010 Joint Annual Convention hosted by Philippine Society of Gastroenterology, Philippine Society of Digestive Endoscopy and Hepatology Society of the Philippines marks a milestone in the very existence of the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year.  It was half a millennium ago when a handful of dedicated men and women trained in gastroenterology together with a small group of allied specialists had a common vision and interest in the field of digestive diseases and founded what is now known as the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology.
This Golden Celebration is further highlighted by a record number of foreign guest faculty to share their expertise on digestive and liver diseases.  The success of the 2010 Joint Annual Convention is largely due to the efforts of Dr. Diana A. Payawal, Dr. Alexander T. Uy, Dr. Jaime G. Ignacio and their team of young and enthusiastic Organizing Committee Members.

On Community Service

The Committee on Civic Action ably headed by Dr. Edward L. Lim was able to accomplish the following medical missions: HBV screening and vaccination program done in Laguna last August 22, 2009. 150 young adults were vaccinated.  The second vaccination and screening was done last February 14, 2010 at the St. Peter’s Parish in Quezon City.  A total of 100 children were vaccinated.  With the recent events such as the flooding during typhoon Ondoy, the Committee deemed it necessary to conduct gift giving for the affected victims.  Gifts such as clothes and personal hygiene items were given to the children of the typhoon victims. A total of 100 bags were given. This was held in conjunction with the HBV screening last February 14 in St. Peter’s Parish. 
Previous PSG-PSDE convention bags stocked in our Secretariat Office were donated and recycled as school bags for the children  of  the same Parish last October 27, 2009.

On GI Fellowship Training

The Committee on Training Program under Dr. Peter P. Sy officially came out with the Standard Fellowship Training Manual.  Thanks largely to the previous efforts of Dr. Frederick Dy, Dr. Luis Salvador and Dr. Ian Homer Cua who spearheaded this project.  Thus, this manual provides a tool for a more objective assessment and guide for all the Fellows in training in Gastroenterology.
Fellows Evaluation Exams (FEE) was successfully held last November 28, 2009 at the Westmont Office in Greenhills, San Juan.  Thirty five (35) examinees from our Training Institutions were in attendance.

Section Heads from all our Training Institutions were informed about the Asian Pacific Association of Gastroenterology’s (APAGE) Clinician-Scientist Training Fellowship for the year 2010 which allows trainees in the field of Gastroenterology to train for 6 to 12 months with stipend.

Enhancing Research in Gastroenterology

Dr. Frederick Dy, head of the Research Committee was able to complete programs for  improved quality outputs.  A workshop on how to make research protocol was held last August 2009 and was attended by all first year Gastroenterology Fellows.  Another program was the organization of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) workshop last October 2009.
Changes were made on the presentation of research papers of distinction.  Instead of the usual prospective, retrospective and meta-analysis category, the Research Committee decided to incorporate the deserving research papers into the scientific program of the 2010 Philippine Digestive Health Week. A total of 48 abstracts were submitted to the Research Committee to be presented in the 2010 Joint Annual Convention.  This was designed with the intention to improve the number of people attending the free paper presentation by our training Fellows and likewise to build their self-esteem as being part of the scientific program.

On the Secretariat

As the Society was unfortunately involved in the Fund Misappropriation, as previously stated, the three (3) employees were immediately terminated on June 2009.  A new secretary, Ybeth Mendez was hired thru a Personnel Management company and a temporary Secretariat was made in the clinic of the PSG Secretary, Dr. Marichona Naval as the PSG Office was secured and locked in the light of the recent events.  An inventory of Office Equipments, furniture and other properties were done by Drs. Marceliano Aquino, Jr. and Marichona Naval on June 11, 2009. The Secretariat reopened on July 22, 2009 with the hiring of another secretary, Christine Salas.  Reorganization of files and documents of the office were done and operational activities soon resumed in its commendable phase.
A new mobile number for the office was registered and a new official e-mail address was created.  These new developments were communicated to the Members of the Society as well as to the Pharmaceutical Companies thru e-mail blast and text messages.
Other than the regular  Monthly Board Meeting, two (2) Special Board Meetings were held during this Fiscal Year as well as two (2) Business Meetings all related to the PSG Fund Misappropriation.
We are attaching a summary of attendance of the Board of Directors for the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 for your perusal.

Councils

The Committee on Council is headed by Dr. Dina C. Gonzales.  This year, the Chairmanship for each Council is again open for election as their three (3) year term is up.  We would like to specifically acknowledge and site the Council on Nutrition ably headed by Dr. Russellini Magdaong for coming up with another Nutrition Postgraduate Course for the second consecutive year.

On Constitutional Amendments

The Committee on Constitutional Amendments is headed by no less than Dr. Higinio T. Mappala.  Based on the Board Resolutions issued by the current Board, the following are proposed amendments for the constitution:

1. Addendum to the Functions of the P.R.O. (Board Resolution 2009-03) – “In concurrent capacity, the P.R.O. shall perform the duties of Auditor who shall oversee the functions of the Treasurer as Financial Custodian.”
2. Addendum to the Functions of the Treasurer and Secretary – Proposed addendum to integrate “Policies and Guidelines on the Disbursements of Funds and Endorsement of Procedures.” (Board Resolution 2009-05)

Other points initially discussed in our Board meetings, which were not part of the Board Resolutions but were deemed vital for extended and more detailed discussions to draft proposals for possible amendments in the constitution include, more details on the formation of the “Executive Committee” in cases when the Board of Directors are suspended/ resigned/ terminated en banc. This will be studied further in depth by a committee formed by the new set of Officers and Members of the Society for the coming Fiscal Year.