Stem cell ‘politics’ behind forgery charges–PMA president

Leo Olarte, M.D., PMA president. PHOTO from www.philippinemedicalassociation.org

MANILA, Philippines – Politics over stem cell treatment may be behind the move to slap an ethics case against him for allegedly falsifying signatures, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president said.

In an interview over Inquirer Radio 990 AM on Monday, Dr. Leo Olarte said he found it suspicious that Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Chair Teresita Manzala announced the ethics case against him on the day of the elections for the next PMA president.

He claimed Manzala slapped the ethics case before the PRC to ruin his chances of being re-elected in the country’s largest doctors’ association.

Olarte said Manzala has connections to doctors who are against stem cell medicine. Olarte is a supporter of stem cell treatment.

“Manzala released the statement on the day of our elections specifically to destroy my name… Manzala (also) has connections to doctors who are against stem cell. I am pro-stem cell treatment while my rival (for president) is not,” Olarte said in Filipino.

In a Philippine Daily Inquirer report on Sunday, Olarte and his four predecessors were charged with fraud in the registration of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Olarte and the four others – Bu Castro, Rey Melchor Santos, Oscar Tinio and Jose Sabili – were accused of forging Manzala’s signature in an endorsement for the incorporation of the PSSCM.

But Olarte blamed a syndicate behind the alleged forgery.

He said the PMA paid a private trading company to process the PSSCM’s incorporation with the SEC. The doctor did not name the company.

“We are the victims of a syndicate in the PRC. We are innocent victims rather than the forgers or criminal offenders,” Olarte said in Filipino.

The PRC chief also said three of the incorporators, whom she did not identify, denied participating in the SEC registration and pointed to Dr. Mike Aragon, the PMA spokesperson, as the one in charge of registering the organization.

In his notarized affidavit to the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine, Aragon said his only role was to pay P15,000 to the trading company to file the necessary documents.

PSSCM’s registration has been revoked due to the forgery charges, Manzala said.

Stem cell treatment has been controversial, especially after three politicians in 2013 died months after receiving stem cell from sheep. Olarte had said the three may have died due to a severe allergic reaction to animal-based stem cells.

The Department of Health has only approved the autologous adult stem cell treatment, which is derived from the patient’s own blood, bone marrow or fat, and not treatment from animal-based stem cells, which could be dangerous.

Among the prominent politicians who had undergone stem cell therapy were former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

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