Dr. Benigno “Iggy” Agbayani Jr. was a man who dedicated his life to healing. A renowned orthopedic surgeon, chairman of his department at Manila Doctors Hospital, and a charitable physician who often waived his fees for poor patients, he was a respected figure in the Philippine medical community.

But on October 5, 2023, his life of service came to a tragic and ironic end. Dr. Agbayani, the healer, died of a heart attack not in a hospital, but on the cold floor of the Manila City Jail. His story is a complex and controversial saga of a single medical procedure that spiraled into a 17-year legal battle, a case clouded by claims of political persecution and a justice system that many believe failed him.

The journey that led a celebrated doctor to a prison cell began with a knee surgery on January 5, 2006. His patient was Atty. Saul Hofileña Jr., a prominent lawyer and historian. The procedure was intended to fix a ligament issue, but in the month that followed, Hofileña’s knee developed a severe bacterial infection. Believing the surgeon was responsible, Hofileña filed a lawsuit against Dr. Agbayani for reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries.

The core of the lawsuit was the accusation that Dr. Agbayani had used an unsterilized arthroscopic device during the surgery. Hofileña claimed the doctor had even admitted the device was “difficult to clean.” Dr. Agbayani vehemently denied this.

In his defense, he argued that sterilizing surgical instruments is the responsibility of the hospital’s nursing staff, not the surgeon, and that he had received verbal confirmation from the nurses that the equipment was sterile before the operation began.

What followed was a slow, grinding legal war that lasted for years. In 2013, a Regional Trial Court found Dr. Agbayani guilty, a verdict that shocked him and his colleagues. But the true tragedy of his case unfolded in the appellate courts. In a series of stunning and arguably negligent moves by his own legal team, his appeals were repeatedly dismissed not on the merits of the evidence, but on baffling procedural errors.

The Court of Appeals first junked his appeal because his lawyers had failed to submit the required photocopies of certain documents. When they filed a petition for review, it too was rejected, with the court blaming the “incompetence” of his legal counsel. His final appeal to the Supreme Court was also dismissed on a technicality.

After 17 years, all legal avenues had been exhausted due to these repeated legal missteps. During this time, Dr. Agbayani had become a highly public and controversial figure for a different reason.

As the co-founder of the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDCPH), he became one of the most vocal critics of the government’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination program for children, arguing the vaccines were “experimental.” His advocacy placed him in direct opposition to powerful government interests.

Thus, when an arrest warrant for the 17-year-old malpractice case was finally served on May 25, 2023, his supporters and many in the medical community did not see it as justice finally being served. They saw it as political persecution.

They believed the government was using an old, questionable conviction to silence a prominent and troublesome critic. The Philippine Medical Association and other groups rallied behind him, expressing fear that his case would set a dangerous precedent, making all doctors vulnerable to criminal charges for unfavorable patient outcomes.

Dr. Agbayani, despite believing he was an innocent man, faced his fate with dignity. In jail, he continued to serve, participating in medical missions and teaching inmates how to read. He was in the middle of a final legal effort to clear his name when he collapsed and died. The official record will show that Dr. Iggy Agbayani was a convicted criminal.

But to his family, his thousands of supporters, and a large part of the medical community, he was a good doctor and a brave advocate who was ultimately the victim of a flawed legal defense and a justice system that many believe was weaponized against him.