Editorial

Did Dr. Phillips Deceive PNP Delegates?

When did Dr. Phillips know he had colon Cancer? The Opposition Leader is 70 years old. He was born in 1949.

We are not insensitive to the delicate issue of the diagnosis and subsequent surgery that the Opposition Leader Dr. Peter David Phillips recently underwent for colon cancer. We can imagine the pain his family are experiencing despite the rosey prognosis for his possible recovery that his medical team has painted.

Special Delegates Conference

Peter Bunting

It was late 2019 that there was a challenge to Dr. Peter Phillips’ leadership by MP Peter Bunting 58. It was a bruising contest that saw Dr. Phillips prevail narrowly. In fact he won by lest than a 100 votes, which translates to approximately 1 percent. Hardly a strong endorsement for an incumbent to hold on to power. Then if that was not traumatic for the Rise United Team led by Bunting, a number of his shadow cabinet supporters were sidelined by Phillips in a subsequent reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. This was an internal party challenge.

Fallout

The fallout was debilitating to those who dared to challenge the president of the 81 year old PNP. This led to deep divisions within the ranks of the party. Instead of healing it was proving to further cement long standing divisions. Nothing was really settled by the contest due to the narrowness of Phillips’ win. A lot of money was expended as those contests are very costly. They likely spent in excess of 20 million Jamaican dollars totally.

 

Age

Phillips’ age and his sleepiness were stated by The Rise United team as reasons for the leadership challenge. They wanted a younger leader to contest upcoming elections due by 2021. Phillips as stated before is 70. It was felt he could not attract the younger voters and therefore did not match up well to PM and JLP leader Andrew Michael Holness who is still in his 40s. State power would elude the PNP.

Medical Report

We have obtained a copy of the medical report of Dr. Peter Phillips which outlines in some detail his diagnosis, treatment and possible prognosis for recovery, as viewed by his medical team.

Independent View

We sought to get an independent view from a medical practitioner of some 18 years who has asked us not to be identified as she works for the government in a very senior position. This doctor said she would have to first get permission to speak to the media.

Telephone Interview

Vision: What is the likely prognosis for 3rd stage colon cancer?

Doctor: “It is one of the curable cancers if caught early.”

Vision:. Would you say this cancer is likely to be detected late in a patient?

Doctor: “No. Usually it takes about a year with symptoms being shown.”

Vision: What are some of the early visible signs or symptoms?

Doctor: “There is constipation, diarrhea, weight loss and blood in stool. In too many cases men ignore early signs.”

Vision: What is the prognosis for full recovery?

Doctor: “If caught early it is curable. This is dependent on early detection. For persons of sedentary lifestyle the prognosis is not necessarily good. Being overweight and in the case of an older person these are not good signs for beating such a cancer. Recovery is therefore not very promising in such a case or scenario.”

There you have it. As is usual the verdict is yours. We just bring you the facts. We have no personal position on this matter.

Perspective: 

dr Peter Phillips on property tax leaderIt is our further perspective that certain direct questions are pregnant to be asked. The 64 million dollar question that begs to be asked and answered is “When did Dr. Phillips know he had colon cancer? Did he deceive the 3000+ PNP delegates in the 2019 leadership challenge by not disclosing then that he was diagnosed with colon cancer?

Only Dr. Peter David Phillips can honestly answer these questions. We have no credible evidence that he did or did not know more than a year ago of his colon cancer diagnosis. Did he ignore the early signs or symptoms?

We would appreciate if these questions were answered. Alas! We are not holding our breath though.

Lifestyle

Dr. Phillips is not known to be the most athletic type. In fact without any medical training he appears to be grossly overweight and may have engaged in a bit of unhealthy lifestyle. Lack of a strict diet and sedentary lifestyle is the downfall of many. We do not claim to be privy to his habits or have hard facts of his lifestyle choices. Views expressed here at best should be seen as speculative. We could be off base.

We wish Dr. Peter David Phillips complete recovery from surgery to cure his stage 3 colon cancer, all the best. It may be the greatest challenge of his political career. This is his life he is fighting for.

COVID 19

The outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic could lead to the postponement of the 2021 scheduled general elections in Jamaica W.I. The Jamaican Constitution allows for this eventuality. We will have to wait and see.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is Senior National & International Correspondent for Vision Newspaper Canada.

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