Soliven visits PGH as it marks 99th year

STAR publisher and chairman Max V. Soliven walked down memory lane yesterday when he delivered the first Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Centennial Oration entitled, "Memories of PGH."

The oration was the first of six speeches to be delivered by distinguished people whose lives were touched by the PGH, as part of the activities lined up to usher in the hospital’s 100th anniversary on Aug. 17 next year.

Soliven was born at the PGH on Sept. 4.

According to him, the story of his birth was told by his mother, Pelagia Villaflor Soliven, in her autobiography.

"Just before Mama died 13, 14 years ago, she gave me a handwritten manuscript. She had painstakingly written it on yellow pad paper and she said, ‘Max, will you publish my book?’ And I said, ‘OK, Mama, I’ll publish your book’," he said.

It took him a long while to publish the book, but it became a bestseller.

Soliven recalled that his mother started going into labor on Sept. 3 while a strong typhoon was pounding Metro Manila.

"I described to Benito (Soliven’s father) what was happening to me and asked him to take me to the Philippine General Hospital," Soliven quoted his mother as saying. "Driving to the hospital meant driving through the worst part of the storm… Taft Avenue had turned into a swollen river with vehicles stalled along the stretch." Upon arriving at the PGH, Mrs. Soliven was attended to by her physician, Dr. Jose Sison.

"Dr. Sison wasted no time in preparing me for delivery," he continued quoting the book. "Benito stayed by my side the whole time I was in the delivery room… my husband was there, standing by me, his hand held out. I know (my baby and I) both need such comfort... Our prayers were richly answered because on Sept. 4, Max was safely born."

Soliven told the audience that his brother was also born at the PGH while his father was treated there when he came home from the Death March in Bataan.

The PGH, he said, also kept him from joining the late President Ramon Magsaysay on his last plane trip to Cebu on March 17, 1957.

He said Magsaysay asked him to join the trip but he turned it down because he was then nursing a broken right arm.

"I was playing basketball then for The Manila Times against The Herald. I fell and my arm had broken. Since it was in Intramuros, I was rushed to the PGH emergency ward," he recounted.

Magsaysay’s plane crashed at Mt. Manunggal on its return trip.

PGH spokesman Dr. Michael Tee said that the PGH is still committed to provide the Filipino people with quality care.

"PGH is the largest university hospital in the Philippines. As part of the University of the Philippines (UP) System, we are assured that our people are most qualified in the field of health care," he added.

Tee said that the PGH’s biggest asset is its manpower, as its staff is composed of leaders in the medical profession.

"Our manpower is the best. We have the edge in training and in research. We have researches that shaped national policies," he added. — Sheila Crisostomo