Case closed, per Philippine Dental Association

Our client, Dr. Steve Mark Gan (“Dr. Gan”), would like to correct the one-sided, defamatory news article titled “Resumption of case vs dentist urged” (News, 6/29/15).

The article made mention of Dr. Reynaldo B. Garcia’s petition for the Board of Dentistry to proceed with the hearing of the case filed by the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) against Steve Mark G. Gan (Administrative Case No. L-1091) after the Court of Appeals, in a 2013 decision, upheld the authority previously given by the PDA to Garcia. However, the article failed to disclose the subsequent and prevailing resolution dated Sept. 17, 2014, issued by the PDA board which dismissed and withdrew the case.

Thus, in so far as complainant PDA is concerned, the case is closed and terminated. Hence, Garcia has no more authority to pursue the case for the PDA.

The article also stated the findings of the PDA ad hoc committee, recommending the filing of the case. However, it failed to disclose the fact that the Board of Dentistry has rendered a decision in the case of “Steve Mark Gan vs Reynaldo B. Garcia” (Administrative Case No. 526), suspending for three months the PRC license of Garcia for disregarding Gan’s right to due process when he recommended the filing of a case against Gan. The Board of Dentistry ruled that the act of Garcia violated Sections 1 and 6 of the Code of Ethics for Dentists. According to Section 1, a dentist must conduct himself in such a manner as to hold his profession in high esteem, while Section 6 says that a dentist shall conduct himself in a manner completely above suspicion or reproach.

If the reporter and the Inquirer had been prudent and diligent enough to research the records of the pertinent cases or had given our client the opportunity to air his side, then the distortions reported in the article could have been avoided. By failing so, the Inquirer in effect allowed itself to be used by Garcia to publicly malign our client.

—EDGAR DENNIS A. PADERNAL and MELISSA ANTONETTE D. ANDAYA-TAY, Andres Padernal & Paras Law Offices

The news article was based on documents, including a 2013 Court of Appeals decision upholding the authority of Dr. Reynaldo Garcia to investigate the charges of unethical practice against Dr. Steve Mark Gan and the November 2014 decision of the Supreme Court upholding with finality the Court of Appeals decision. The case is not closed.—Ed.