Esperanza Cabral


Esperanza Alcantara Icasas-Cabral is a Filipino cardiologist and clinical pharmacologist. She served as Secretary of the Department of Health in the Philippines, taking office in January 2010 replacing Dr. Francisco Duque after his appointment as head 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. Cabral is married to Dr. 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.

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, the Bureau of Food and Drugs 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, which mandated all companies to include in all advertisements, promotional, and/or sponsorship activities or materials concerning food/dietary supplements the following phrase:
Fearing that the new directive may impact food/dietary supplement companies in a negative way, the Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines 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 won its appeal at the Court of Appeals Special Fourth Division.
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 and the DSWD employees are corrupt, having diverted donated goods for personal gain at the expense of the typhoon victims and downright incompetent."

Awards and honours