More than a Medical Mission

The medical mission of San Miguel Brewery Inc. and San Miguel Foundation Inc. at Purok Cambantog in Ormoc City brought us to the placid countenance of Danao Lake. The silence of its waters awed us with the magnificent vista that quietly invited us. Its pristine beauty displayed an unspoiled forest cover that cooled us with fresh air. The depth of the waters is said to be uncharted. No one has really reached the base of its basin.

In the midst of trees and lush vegetation, we did not expect a warm community welcome from the residents of Purok Cambantog. Mr. Eleazar D. Mistok, the barangay secretary helped us settle in. With us were the medical team from the Department of Health led by doctors Nenita Navales and Edilberto Calipayan. They were also joined by private practitioners who volunteered their services to help in the medical mission. Dr. Berlina Suarez and Dr. Chonito Yu added to the team of medical experts who unselfishly shared their time and concern for the community with us.

A team of builders also joined us. The Ormoc Builders Association. (OrBA). I learned from their president, Engr. Joseph Frederick Pepito that their group has a membership of 33 contractors who share the vision of helping communities.

OrBA, aside from being a group of building contractors is also composed of engineers who are married to other professionals who are willing to share their skills in the pursuit of the objectives of OrBA. They held a feeding program for Purok Cambantog and its adjacent puroks to supplement our medical mission with a nutrition program as they helped us with medical support and logistical concerns.

“It is part of our social responsibility to involve ourselves in helping build communities.” Engr. Pepito shared. “Feeding is among our projects. We helped some of the victims of the fire that occurred at Punta in Ormoc City through providing them with food. We also did a school supply donation at the beginning of classes. Since we are contractors we have projects that also involve housing like those with Gawad Kalinga. We have assisted in painting the City Plaza pavements, sidewalks and curves and we plan to also go into environment projects like tree planting.”

The good ecology and bio-diversity in the area may have been the reason why people in Cambantog have reached mature ages like 80s to 90s. Some of the patients we reached walked very spritely even if they were octogenarians. The septuagenarians amazed us with their good vision and rigid postures.

At the closing of the day, we missed our dear friend Mr. Edwin Codilla who invited us to this place as he had to attend to an emergency in Cebu City. Still, we were grateful of this invitation and the chance to be able to share and partake in this cause. Getting to know generous people like the doctors, nurses, engineers, drivers, barangay folks and builders in Ormoc City made our early start of the day a worthwhile adventure and a demonstration of business after business.