(Hong Kong, March 27, 2009)
Vincent P. Reyes smoked Philip Morris cigarettes for twenty years. He stopped and after a few years discovered he had lung cancer. He struggled against the disease from December 2000 until the end on December 1, 2004. He is survived by his widow and two sons.
The cost of treatment and medicine over the four year period of initial diagnosis; lung operation; chemo-therapy and radiation therapy was far more than Vincents meager means can pay for. His entire family, parents and siblings had to contribute for his treatment. As expected a period of relative health and apparent recovery followed the initial therapy. Remission lasted for about two years. When the cancer returned, he went through a more intensive schedule of chemo and radiation therapy until it was no longer helping him. Over a four year period, Vincent suffered not only physical pain but intense emotional and psychological pain as he faced his fast approaching death.
Around six months before his passed away, Vincent filed a P 500,000 damage suit against Philip Morris.
On October 1, 2008, the Court of Appeals affirmed the August 12, 2005 ruling of Judge Winlove Dumayas of the Makati RTC Branch 59 to deny the motion to dismiss filed by Philip Morris. Later, the appellate court remanded the case to the Makati RTC, which set the pre-trial on March 30, 2009.
Vincent filed the case thinking of his two sons and the many sons who may soon lose their fathers to cancer and a variety of lung diseases caused by cigarette smoking.
This is a landmark case in the Philippines as all other case filed against cigarette companies were dismissed.
