A proud Pinoy indeed

CNN started it all, bringing modern-day heroes to the forefront of global social awareness. These contemporary heroes never sought attention and recognition of their efforts, motivated only by a desire to help others, specially the under-privileged. Last year’s CNN hero was no other than Efren Penaflorida, the Pinoy who brought the classroom to those who couldn’t go to them via a cart on wheels full of assorted textbooks and a couple of volunteers who prodded reluctant students to listen and learn.

Hero stories are always a favorite because of their feel-good nature, especially for us who have had enough of the political machinations in this country. Well, a feel good story is what we have in one of our upcoming features in Business & Leisure, the TV counterpart of this column. Sometime in early September, the Rotary Club of San Francisco del Monte and the Rotary Club of Marilao, together with a whole slew of medical volunteers led by renowned cosmetic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Jim Sanchez and other medical practitioners joined hands to bring cheers and wellness to the townsfolk of Marilao. This was going to be the 4^th medical mission of Congresswoman Linabelle Ruth Villarica who provided the medicines needed for all the medical procedures for that bright and sunny Sunday.

It was a sight  the townsfolk lined up to register for whatever ailments they had in an orderly manner, the secretariat efficiently manning several tables to accommodate the people who came in throngs, the nurses all ready in their scrubs. Mothers came with their toddlers for de-worming, the elderly came for optical consultations, some came with visible cysts and tumors, others had hernia, and others had disfiguring cleft palates.

This was no ordinary medical mission. It was in fact a combined medical and surgical mission, and all surgical procedures were to be done in the confines of a specially-fitted van. A mobile surgical van is phenomenal in itself, the first, I heard, in the world. Who would have thought of mounting the operating room on wheels and toting it all over the archipelago to serve the people? Only in the Philippines. Touche’!

Actually, the key to the viability of this prospect is the pioneering effort of Dr. Jim who operates on people with, say, cleft palates using only local anesthesia. This eliminates a costly procedure altogether which necessitates the services of another medical specialist. We saw how Raffy, a young man born with a cleft palate reclined on a dental chair which served as the operating table, eyes wide open, the surgeon chatting him up and actually joking with him as he performed a simple reconstructive surgery on him, repairing the collapsed nose and the disfigured upper lips. It took only a few minutes for Doc Jim to round up his drooping nostrils, even out the pair and repair the tear on the upper lip. Now and then, he would ask Raffy, “May nararamdaman ka bang sakit?” And the patient would simply answer “wala po”. Then the banter would continue, Jim teasing him that after this procedure, he would have at least five girl friends. After only about fifteen minutes or so, Doc Jim put his finishing micro stitches on Raffy and asked him to sit up as Congresswoman Belle, Rotarian officials Ronnie Yap and Ver adult was about to change, thanks to these good Samaritans. The mother was eternally grateful. By the way, if you’re wondering why it only took so little time to finish this procedure, it’s because Doc Jim is a veteran of cleft palate reconstruction. He is one of the volunteers of Operation Smile which has literally brought smiles to thousands of people with cleft palates. This group of doctors travels to developing countries, doing surgery for free. To date, this group has operated on over a hundred thousand patients in so many countries, changing lives forever. Operation Smile will mark its 30^th year next year, and they plan to celebrate it here in the Philippines.

What is actually more amazing for me was the comparison of costs that Doc Jim medicines, laboratory charges, and hospital room, that particular procedure would have cost the young man about P100,000.00, money which obviously the family did not have. The actual cost of that procedure was P2,500.

Wish we had more of these surgical vans on wheels that many more of our poor “kababayans” can avail of otherwise prohibitive procedures. And wish we had many more kind-hearted souls, compassionate organizations and supportive government officials, selfless doctors and nurses, and visionaries like Doc Jim  a Proud Pinoy indeed.

Wish ko lang.

A racing timepiece not only for race drivers

TW Steel treated us to a spectacle when they unveiled the David Coulthard Special Edition Watches together with Ivan and Emerson Yao of the Lucerne Group of Companies.

This brand specializes in over-sized watches, very masculine and hardy, ruggedly handsome as some would day. The special edition watch comes in 44mm (CE4001) and 48mm (CE4002) with steel sandblasted case. The PVD dark titanium plated bezel is likewise sandblasted, resulting in a very distinguished timepiece. It has a grey dial which features David Coulthard’s name (he is the brand ambassador of TW Steel, and the name has incalculable value). The chronograph and tachymeter feature bold red numbers. More importantly, for the time-conscious, this time piece measures time very accurately, up to 1/20^th of a second because of its Miyota OS24 chronograph movement. It is water-resistant up to 10ATM. Functional, yes, as all Swiss watches go, but they thankfully did not sacrifice style.

Being a Formula One fan, I couldn’t resist the invitation to go, not only to be among the first to see this special edition watch, but also to meet David in person. This two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner who is still very much involved in racing as a BCC (British Broadcasting Corporation) F1 race commentator was pleasant and friendly and accommodated me with a brief on-cam TV interview, albeit on the sly. If word came out that he was game for interviews even before the press con, he would have been swamped. Thanks David.

The lunch was held at the Marriot Hotel and they raffled off one of those special edition watches which I of course did not win, given my track record for raffles. Some other lucky soul won it.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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