Qualified theft rap vs Eye Bank execs dismissed

A prosecutor has dismissed for lack of probable cause a mother’s lawsuit against personnel of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines whom she accused of taking her dead son’s eyes without her consent.

“The … harvesting of corneas cannot be considered … theft for the reason that there is no intent to gain on the part of the respondents,” Makati Assistant Prosecutor Agnes Alibanto said in a resolution dated April 4 and which was released only recently.

She added that the act of removing a dead man’s corneas was “sanctioned by law”—the defense also raised by the accused—since under Republic Act No. 7885 (the Act to Advance Corneal Transplantation, which amended RA 7170 or the Organ Donation Act of 1991), “hospital officials or the designated doctors in custody of the dead can authorize in a public document the removal of the corneas within 12 hours after the death.”

But Alibanto noted that although the foundation’s ophthalmic technician could not be held liable for damages, he failed to comply with the law when he did not “exert earnest efforts to locate the deceased’s nearest relative.”

The case of qualified theft against the foundation was filed by Dionisia Nueno Infante, mother of 18-year-old Jason Infante, a Sangguniang Kabataan official who was stabbed dead while on patrol with barangay (village) officials in Makati City.

Sued were Eye Bank president and chairperson Ma. Dominga Padilla, vice president Dr. Jacinto U. Dy-Liaco, secretary Dr. Leo D.P. Cubillan, treasurer Dr. Bernita C. Navarro, board members Dr. Victor Jose L. Caparas, Dr. Ruben Lim Bon Siong, Dr. Prospero C. Tuano, Dr. Victor B. Lopez, Dr. Carlos G. Naval, Dr. Reynaldo E. Santos, Dr. Noel Rene Nieva, manager Ellen Lagan and Yves Pabillano, the ophthalmic technician who removed the teenager’s eyes.

Also named in the lawsuit were Funeraria Filipinas owners Erlinda Lacsamana and Teresita Wenceslao, and embalmers Dindo de la Cruz and Jonathan Manilapula.

According to Dionisia, the foundation took her son’s eyes without asking for permission from her or her husband even though they were standing right outside the morgue. She added that she learned about the alleged theft only during the wake when she noticed a marked difference in her son’s appearance and saw that he was missing his eyes.

Dionisia said she had already submitted a motion for reconsideration to the prosecutor. “I don’t want to stop pursuing this case because I don’t want this to happen again to other people,” she told the Inquirer in a phone interview.