Esperanza Cabral

Esperanza Cabral
Esperanza Cabral
27th Secretary of Health
	In office; September 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010
President	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Preceded by	Francisco T. Duque III
Succeeded by	Enrique Ona
24th Secretary of Social Welfare and Development
	In office; July 21, 2005 – August 31, 2009
President	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Preceded by	Corazon Soliman
Succeeded by	Celia C. Yangco (OIC)
Personal details
Born	Esperanza Alcantara Icasas; December 1
Nationality	Filipino
Political party	People's Reform Party
Spouse	Bienvenido Cabral (m. 1968)
Children	3
Alma mater	University of the Philippines Diliman (BS,MD)
Profession	Doctor

Esperanza Alcantara Icasas-Cabral is a Filipina cardiologist and clinical pharmacologist. She served as Secretary of the Department of Health in the Philippines, taking office in January 2010 to replace Dr. Francisco Duque III after his appointment as chairperson of the Civil Service Commission. Before her appointment as Secretary of Health she was previously the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, replacing Corazon Soliman. Dr. Cabral is married to Bienvenido Villegas Cabral, an ophthalmologist.

Education

Cabral graduated from medical school at the University of the Philippines Manila. She extended her medical and pharmacological training at the U.P. Philippine General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Joslin Clinic in Boston, Massachusetts.^[1]

Career

Cabral has long served as an educator and leader in Philippine medicine. At the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, she was a professor of medicine and pharmacology. She served both as Director of the Philippine Heart Center and Chief of Cardiology of Asian Hospital and Medical Center. She authored and co-authored more than 85 scientific papers on hypertension, cardiovascular pharmacology and clinical and preventive cardiology. She educated the public as a TV show host on "HeartWatch" on IBC Channel 13 and "InfoMedico" on NBN Channel 4.

She served during the administration of President Corazon Aquino as Director of the Philippine Heart Center. She also consulted for the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and the Department of Health. Earlier she served as Commissioner for Science and Health on the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women.

She has earned a number of awards.

One of her contributions as Secretary of Health was the DOH-FDA Administrative Order 2010-0008 (issued on March 18, 2010), which mandated all companies to include in all advertisements, promotional, and/or sponsorship activities or materials concerning food/dietary supplements the following phrase:

MAHALAGANG PAALALA: ANG (NAME OF PRODUCT) AY HINDI GAMOT AT HINDI DAPAT GAMITING PANGGAMOT SA ANUMANG URI NG SAKIT [Important reminder: (Name of product) is not a medicinal drug and should not be used to treat the symptoms of any disease.]

Fearing that the new directive may impact food/dietary supplement companies in a negative way, the Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines (composed of over 65 firms in the country engaged in the manufacture, research and distribution of these products) filed a petition for injunction against it at the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch No. 30 in May 2010. Presiding judge Lilia Purugganan granted it, however, it was lifted on November 28, 2014, after the DOH (which was then led by Enrique Ona) won its appeal at the Court of Appeals Special Fourth Division.^[2]^[3]

In January 2010, the National Bureau of Investigation filed a libel complaint on behalf of Secretary Cabral after a blog post under the pseudonym "Ella Rose delos Santos" alleged "...that she [Sec. Cabral] and the DSWD employees are corrupt, having diverted donated goods for personal gain at the expense of the typhoon victims and [are] downright incompetent."

According to a report by Reuters, the United States military ran a propaganda campaign to spread disinformation about the Sinovac Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, including using fake social media accounts to spread the disinformation that the Sinovac vaccine contained pork-derived ingredients and was therefore haram under Islamic law.^[4] The campaign was described as "payback" for COVID-19 disinformation by China directed against the U.S.^[5] The Philippines, which had a low vaccination rate at the time, was a primary target of the campaign.^[4] Following the publication of the report in 2024, Cabral stated that she was "sure there are lots of people who died from COVID who did not need to die from COVID".^[4]

Awards and honors

In 1981, she received the National Outstanding Young Scientist for Medicine Award from the Department of Science and Technology.
In 1982, the Philippine Society of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology's Achievement Award.
In 1986, she was named the Outstanding Woman in the Nation's Service for Medicine.
In 1991, she received the first Dr. Jose P. Rizal Award by the Philippine Medical Association.
1993, Most Distinguished Scientist by the Philippine Heart Association
1993, Outstanding Alumnus for Research by the UP College of Medicine
1998, Distinguished Researcher by the Philippine College of Physicians.

References

^ "Board of Trustees and the Asia Advisory Council". Health Care Without Harm. April 21, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
^ Lorenciana, Carlo (May 20, 2015). "FDA orders food supplement makers remove 'No Approved Therapeutic Claim' tag". The Freeman via philstar.com. PhilStar Daily, Inc. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
^ The case of the ‘no therapeutic claims’ disclaimer^{[permanent dead link‍]} (BusinessWorld)
^ ^a ^b ^c Bing, Chris; Schechtman, Joel (June 14, 2024). "Pentagon Ran Secret Anti-Vax Campaign to Undermine China during Pandemic". Reuters.
^ Toropin, Konstantin (June 14, 2024). "Pentagon Stands by Secret Anti-Vaccination Disinformation Campaign in Philippines After Reuters Report". Military.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

External links

Government offices
Preceded by Francisco Duque	Secretary of Health 2009–2010	Succeeded by Enrique Ona

[1] "Board of Trustees and the Asia Advisory Council". Health Care Without Harm. April 21, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2021.

[2] Lorenciana, Carlo (May 20, 2015). "FDA orders food supplement makers remove 'No Approved Therapeutic Claim' tag". The Freeman via philstar.com. PhilStar Daily, Inc. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.

[3] The case of the ‘no therapeutic claims’ disclaimer^{[permanent dead link‍]} (BusinessWorld)

[:6-4] Bing, Chris; Schechtman, Joel (June 14, 2024). "Pentagon Ran Secret Anti-Vax Campaign to Undermine China during Pandemic". Reuters.

[5] Toropin, Konstantin (June 14, 2024). "Pentagon Stands by Secret Anti-Vaccination Disinformation Campaign in Philippines After Reuters Report". Military.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

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v t e Cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010)
Vice-President	Teofisto Guingona Jr. (2001–2004) Noli de Castro (2004–2010)
Secretary of Agrarian Reform	Horacio Morales (2001) Hernani Braganza (2001–2003) Roberto Pagdanganan (2003–2004) Jose Maria Ponce (2004) Rene Villa (2004–2005) Nasser C. Pangandaman (2005–2010)
Secretary of Agriculture	Domingo Panganiban (2001) Leonardo Montemayor (2001–2002) Luis Lorenzo, Jr. (2002–2004) Arthur C. Yap (2004–2005) Domingo Panganiban (2005–2006) Arthur C. Yap (2006–2010)
Secretary of Budget and Management	Emilia Boncodin (2001–2005) Romulo Neri (2005–2006) Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. (2006–2010)
Secretary of Education	Raul Roco (2001–2002) Edilberto de Jesus (2002–2004) Florencio Abad (2004–2005) Ramon Bacani (2005) Fe Hidalgo (2005–2006) Jesli A. Lapus (2006–2010) Mona Valisno (2010)
Secretary of Energy	Jose Isidro Camacho (2001) Vincent S. Perez (2001–2005) Raphael Lotilla (2005–2007) Angelo Reyes (2007–2010) Jose Ibazeta (2010)
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources	Heherson Alvarez (2001–2003) Eliza Gozun (2003–2004) Mike Defensor (2004–2006) Angelo Reyes (2006–2007) Jose L. Atienza Jr. (2007–2009) Horacio Ramos (2009–2010)
Secretary of Finance	Jose Pardo (2001) Alberto Romulo (2001) Jose Isidro Camacho (2001–2003) Juanita Amatong (2003–2005) Cesar Purisima (2005) Margarito Teves (2005–2010)
Secretary of Foreign Affairs	Teofisto Guingona, Jr. (acting capacity; (2001–2002)) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (acting capacity; 2002) Blas Ople (2002–2003) Franklin Ebadlin (2003) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (acting capacity; 2003) Delia Albert (2003–2004) Alberto Romulo (2004–2010)
Secretary of Health	Manuel Dayrit (2001–2005) Francisco T. Duque III (2005–2009) Esperanza Cabral (2009–2010)
Secretary of the Interior and Local Government	Jose Lina, Jr. (2001–2004) Angelo Reyes (2004–2006) Ronaldo V. Puno (2006–2010)
Secretary of Justice	Artemio Tuquero (2001) Hernando Perez (2001–2002) Merceditas Gutierrez (2002–2003) Simeon Datumanong (2003) Merceditas Gutierrez (2003–2004) Raul Gonzales (2004–2009) Agnes Devanadera (2009–2010) Alberto Agra (2010)
Secretary of Labor and Employment	Patricia Santo Tomas (2001–2006) Arturo Brion (2006–2008) Marianito D. Roque (2008–2010)
Secretary of National Defense	Orlando Mercado (2001) Angelo Reyes (2001–2003) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (acting capacity; 2003) Eduardo Ermita (2003–2004) Avelino Cruz, Jr. (2004–2006) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (acting capacity; (2006–2007)) Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. (2007) Norberto Gonzales (2007) Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. 2007–2009 Norberto Gonzales (2009–2010)
Secretary of Pubilc Works and Highways	Simeon Datumanong (2001–2003) Bayani Fernando (2003) Florante Soriquez (2003–2005) Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. (2005–2007) Manuel Bonoan (2007) Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. (2007–2009) Victor Domingo (2009–2010)
Secretary of Science and Technology	Estrella F. Alabastro (2001–2010)
Secretary of Social Welfare and Development	Corazon Soliman (2001–2005) Esperanza Cabral (2005–2009) Celia Yangco (2009–2010)
Secretary of Tourism	Richard Gordon (2001–2004) Robert Ace Barbers (2004) Roberto M. Pagdanganan (2004–2005) Joseph Ace H. Durano (2005–2010)
Secretary of Trade and Industry	Manuel Roxas II (2001–2003) Cesar Purisima (2004–2005) Juan Santos (2005) Peter B. Favila (2005–2010) Jesli Lapus (2010)
Secretary of Transportation and Communications	Pantaleon Alvarez (2001–2002) Leandro Mendoza (2002–2010) Anneli Lontoc (2010)
Executive Secretary	Renato de Villa (2001) Alberto Romulo (2001–2004) Eduardo Ermita (2004–2010) Leandro Mendoza (2010)
Presidential Spokesperson	Elena Bautista-Horn (2001–2010)
Press Secretary	Jesus G. Dureza (2001-2010)
Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education	Carlito Puno (2001–2007) Romulo Neri (2007–2008) Emmanuel Angeles (2008–2010)
Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority	Dante Canlas (2001–2002) Romulo Neri (2002–2005) Augusto Santos (2005–2006) Romulo Neri (2006–2007) Augusto Santos (2007–2008) Ralph Recto (2008–2009) Augusto Santos (2009–2010)
Solicitor General	Simeon V. Marcelo (2001–2002) Carlos N. Ortega (2002) Alfredo Benipayo (2002–2006) Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura (2006–2007) Agnes Devanadera (2007–2010) Alberto Agra (2010)
Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority	Benjamin Abalos (2001–2002) Bayani Fernando (2002–2009) Oscar Inocentes (2009–2010)
National Security Adviser	Noberto Gonzales (2001–2010)