Forced incarceration’: American archivist responds to Las Piñas hospital amid passport issue

[Lee]

Could be that Mr Tewell has gotten to the age of requiring help in maintaining his business affairs.

Quote

 

“A 39-day forced incarceration.”

This was how photograph archivist John Tewell described his alleged situation when he was a patient of a tertiary medical center after the hospital released a statement addressing his claims.

The American antique photo collector on Wednesday responded to the Las Piñas branch of the Perpetual Help Medical Center (PHMC) which said that Tewell “agreed to relinquish his passport” until his bills were settled.

The archivist claimed that the promissory note the hospital referred to in its statement was “void” since it was “forced on a person using duress.”

“One question; how many out there [have] gone through a 39-day forced incarceration unscathed? And then turned rounded and charged the daily room charge rate by the captors?” Tewell said in a Facebook post on June 2.

He previously claimed that he stayed in the PHMC for 39 days after doctors had “released” him.

“Most of the response from Perpetual Help Hospital is lacking in truth,” Tewell wrote.

“To proceed, I need to stop with this until I have a good attorney representing me. Much of the hospital’s response is simply not true and it can be verified with official documents and photographs,” he added.

He then asked for recommendations on a lawyer who is “knowledgeable” about Philippine immigration amid his ordeal.

In a follow-up post, Tewell said he only wanted “to get past the bad things and back to working on and posting old heritage pictures,” referring to his pursuit of collecting and archiving antique photos.

“I do have saved hundreds, possibly a few thousand, important pictures I have not yet posted,” he added.

The archivist’s posts came after the PHMC addressed his claims in a May 29 Facebook post where he accused the hospital of “illegally” holding his passport and performing a “wrong” operation on him.

Tewell previously alleged that the medical center held him “against” his will for 39 days after doctors had supposedly ordered to release him.

“The Embassy worked to get it back by telling the hospital the Passport belonged to the USA, not me, and they wanted it back. The Hospital basically told the US Embassy to go to hell,” he said, referring to the United States Embassy in the Philippines.

Tewell claimed that he has documentation “for almost everything” he did to supposedly retrieve his passport. These include pictures of his “invasive surgery” which he claimed happened in the “wrong” area.

He also alleged he had documented the communication with the US Embassy, including two conference calls they had with the PHMC.

The hospital’s side

PHMC, in response, said that Tewell underwent procedures with them to “correct” his hip fracture and hernia from a previous major abdominal operation which it said was not performed in their institution.

The PHMC added that he was “advised for subsequent follow-ups as an outpatient but failed in this regard.”

The hospital also said it has “a notarized promissory note” signed by the antique photo collector, as well as a handwritten letter from him that stated “he agreed to relinquish his passport until his bill is settled.”

Moreover, it responded to a letter from Tewell’s counsel who demanded that the patient’s passport be released.

PHMC said it replied by saying that the patient or his authorized representative “may claim the document from our hospital.”

It added that “no one has appeared to claim his passport.”

“We tried to send him a collection letter last Feb. 22, 2023 but we were informed that he has moved out of his last known address,” the hospital said.

It maintained that it had provided Tewell “the best possible patient care and treatment.”

The archivist is known for sharing collections of old photos of the Philippines, including images documenting significant historical events like the Liberation of Manila and the Second World War.

 

‘Forced incarceration’: American archivist responds to Las Piñas hospital amid passport issue (msn.com)

 

[Lee]

The backstory on Mr. Tewell.

https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/sunday-life/2017/06/10/1708698/life-photos?fbclid=IwAR1x_saCWOsZzPIzZIKR70Z9FCXmiwG2QMfk5toyhOxYQgqOlIZ56nVoZXU

 

A look at Mr Tewell's archived albums.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johntewell/albums/

[Mike J]

A bit of additional information.  Mr. Tewell is now 79 years old and the hospital surgery occurred in 2018.  Mr. Tewell refused to pay the hospital bill.  He has received a notice of deportation from the bureau of Immigration for overstay.  

https://interaksyon.philstar.com/trends-spotlights/2023/06/06/252931/phmc-las-pinas-responds-john-tewell-passport-operation/

A hospital in Las Piñas City addressed the accusations of one of its patients, prolific photograph archivist John Tewell.

The 79-year-old American archivist in a Facebook post on Monday, May 29 accused the institution of “illegally” holding his passport and performing a “wrong” operation.

The Las Piñas branch of the Perpetual Help Medical Center (PHMC), the accused, responded to Tewell’s post in a statement.

The archivist had previously appealed for help and expressed his fear of “being deported” following a five-year-old incident that involved the tertiary medical center.

According to him, he could not go to the Bureau of Immigration without his passport.

“Perpetual Help Medical Center did a major surgical operation on me in the wrong place, cutting me open from ribcage to pelvis bone. I refused to pay,” Tewell claimed in his Facebook post, adding it happened in 2018.

“They held me illegally against my will for 39 days after the doctors released me. Finally, they illegally took and kept my passport and released me, saying when I pay the bill for operating on me, in the wrong place, they would give it back,” he added.

“I even had the US Embassy involved. The Embassy worked to get it back by telling the hospital the Passport belonged to the USA, not me, and they wanted it back. The Hospital basically told the US Embassy to go to hell,” Tewell continued, referring to the United States Embassy in the Philippines.

The antique photo collector claimed that he has documentation “for almost everything” he did to supposedly retrieve his passport. These include pictures of his “invasive surgery” which he alleged happened in the “wrong” area.

Tewell additionally claimed that he had documented the communication with the US Embassy, including two conference calls they had with the PHMC.

“Please, at this stage of my life, I need help to get past this wrongful injustice,” he concluded.

The archivist included a copy of the deportation order against him issued last January, which said that he “overstayed in the country.”

Two days later, Tewell reiterated his appeal by saying he did not want to be “forced to leave” the Philippines which he said had been his “home” for the past 16 years.

The archivist’s initial Facebook post reached Twitter, where a user shared a screengrab of his post. It has so far received over 414,200 views, 2,858 likes and more than 770 retweets.

“If you’ve read any blogs, articles, or books with photos of the 20th-century Philippines, chances are, you’ve seen John Tewell’s archive photos. Himself a photographer, Tewell has collected thousands upon thousands of those pictures and made them available for public use,” another Twitter user said.

“Tewell is one of the reasons why we have so many old photos of Philippine life so easily accessible online. Despite being born in distant Kansas, he has devoted so much of his life to the preservation of items in our Filipino history that would otherwise be lost in the margins,” the user added.

“To see his deportation ordered and passport taken is a crime, almost reflective of how little real importance our state places on our history: instead of making it clear and accessible, they brutally distort it [and] deport — and in the case of Filipinos, imprison [and] kill — its advocates,” the user continued.

Columnist and editor-at-large Manuel L. Quezon III also expressed alarm over Tewell’s situation.

“John Tewell’s Flickr page is a national treasure, honestly, and his situation brings up the never-ending question of patient’s rights,” he tweeted.

“John Tewell’s Flickr account is a treasure trove of historical photographs, a vast archive that contributed much to the increase in heritage awareness in the recent years. It’s truly awful and shameful that he is subjected to this terrible order. What a grateful country!” another Twitter user exclaimed.

Five days after Tewell’s initial Facebook post, the PHMC released a statement in response to the archivist’s claims.

The hospital said that the photo collector “underwent” procedures with them to “correct” his hip fracture and hernia from a previous major abdominal operation which it said was not performed in their institution.

PHMC added that Tewell was “advised for subsequent follow-ups as an outpatient but failed in this regard.”

An outpatient is a patient who is not hospitalized overnight but has to go to the medical center for diagnosis or treatment.

PHMC also said that they have “a notarized promissory note signed by Mr. Tewell and a hand-written letter from Mr. Tewell stating that he agreed to relinquish his passport until his bill is settled.”

The hospital said that Tewell’s bill amounted to P146,000. It added that he had “no means to settle the amount at that time.”

PHMC shared that the archivist’s counsel sent them a letter on Sept. 8, 2020, demanding the release of Tewell’s passport.

“Two days later, we replied, saying Mr. Tewell or his authorized representative may claim the document from our hospital. To date, no one has appeared to claim his passport,” the medical center said.

It added that the hospital’s management tried to send the archivist a collection letter on Feb. 22, 2023. However, they were informed that Tewell had moved out of his last known address.

“The Perpetual Help Medical Center maintains that Mr. Tewell received the best possible patient care and treatment,” the hospital said.

“We would like to stress that our institution is committed to treating every patient that comes through our doors with competence, compassion, and care in accordance with our motto ‘Dedicated to Life,'” it added.

Who is John Tewell? 
Tewell, an award-winning pilot from the USA, moved to the Philippines after he retired in 2007.

He described himself as a “visual person” and shared that he had been a photographer since the 1950s.

Tewell’s name is synonymous with old photos of the Philippines that are widely available online.

Book publishers who need old photos of Manila always include his photo collection, such as in the case of Peter C. Parsons’ “Manila 1945: The Rest of the Story.”

Tewell has images documenting historical events like the Liberation of Manila and the Second World War, as well as countless antique photos of women, children, churches, buildings and monuments, schools, homes, and marketplaces.

His collection can be viewed on his Flickr account he created in 2009.

According to the archivist, he enjoys collecting heritage photographs and “looking at the stories they tell and beyond.”

“There’s personal satisfaction in knowing that I am helping preserve the history of the Filipinos and hopefully, opening more doors towards deeper understanding and appreciation about your rich culture,” Tewell said in a 2017 interview with The Philippine STAR.

[scott h]

[BrettGC]

"he said, she said".

[Lee]

A supposed botched surgery in 2018 doesn't justify him still over staying his visa in 2023.

If he had “no means to settle the amount at that time.” of the rather paltry sum of P146K, why was he even in the country in the first place?

[RBM]

Was talking to an American recently, he stays in our complex. Was operated on at a private hospital here a couple years ago, apparently some complications resulting in the bill spiraling.  Was unable to pay more than half, Hospital would only allow him released if he surrendered passport. Further they refused him access to passport for visa renewal even though he was paying balance in installments, resulting in now being an over stayer.

Not sure how frequent this occurs, for those without insurance should be aware, it obviously happens.

[RBM]

4 minutes ago, Lee said:

A supposed botched surgery in 2018 doesn't justify him still over staying his visa in 2023.

If he had “no means to settle the amount at that time.” of the rather paltry sum of P146K, why was he even in the country in the first place?

Sadly Lee I could name a few foreigners here that would not agree P146K is a paltry sum.

[intrepid]

I was just wondering while they were holding your passport could you claim (lost/stolen passport) and request a new/replacement passport?

[BrettGC]

Maybe he should've started charging for his images.