Shattered

As I write this – on a Monday morning – most everyone is aching to find out what the President’s SONA (State-of-the-Nation Address) will be. It will be, by far, the most awaited SONA, addressed as it is to a divided nation.

The events of the last few weeks have given unprecedented attention to what the President will say. After the "Hello Garci" tapes, every word that will come out of her mouth will be mercilessly scrutinized by critics and concerned citizens.

To be sure, the address will be the product of long, tiring sessions among her speechwriters and advisers. It better not commit the mistake of advisers who told her to wait three weeks before responding to the exposure of the Garci tapes and deliver a speech in vapid fashion, seemingly to show how contrite she was as she asked for the nation’s forgiveness for a "lapse in judgment."

That speech had not produced the desired result – that the nation would forgive and forget what she had done. Instead it unleashed ammunition for the Opposition long carrying the burden of its candidates having been cheated in the presidential election. Chastisement poured out from pulpits and spilled into the streets, the Internet and cell phones burned with messages for the President to resign or be impeached.

The dissenting opinions – for her to stay or resign or be impeached – have divided families, husbands and wives, parents and children, kumpares and kumares, bishops and parishioners. They have shattered long-standing friendships, created a wedge between colleagues. Cynicism and skepticism.

The air is heavy with confusion, doubt,

Would the SONA spell the end of an era, or the dawn of a new era?

You and I can only surmise – and pray.

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Sometime ago, I wrote a column on the persecution of the Animas family in Sapang Dalaga of Misamis Occidental by a vindictive political enemy who is imprisoned in Muntinglupa. The inmate, whose family and himself had been beaten in local elections, hires lawyers to file charges of non-bailable offenses as illegal recruitment, kidnapping and/or murder against members of the Animas family. The lawyers file the cases in Quezon City and Laguna, far from Sapang Dalaga. Since the subpoenas cannot reach the respondents, they cannot file their counter-affidavits, and are issued warrants of arrest, this time in Sapang Dalaga.

The present mayor, Dr. Virginia D. Animas, fears that one day she just might find herself slapped in jail because of this unjust practice. In response to her request, Justice Secretary Raul. M. Gonzalez has sent a memorandum order to all regional state prosecutors, state prosecutors, provincial prosecutors, and city prosecutors and their assistants not to file cases against the Animas family in addresses outside Sapang Dalaga. Below is the text of Secretary Gonzalez’s order.

"Reports have reached this Office that alleged non-bailable offenses, such as large-scale illegal recruitment, murder, kidnap-ping, etc., have been indiscriminately filed by unscrupulous persons against Mayor Virginia D. Animas, Vice-Mayor Anabel Sumingit, former Mayor Manuel Animas, Clerk of Court Darryl Montealto, Danila Lusterio, former Municipal Secretary Alfonso D. Lunsod, IV, Rene Apostol, former Vice Mayor Donjie Animas, former Mayor Joel Maniwan, Alfonso D’Lonsod III, and Joise Bayawa (NBP personnel), using false or fictitious addresses of the respondents for the purpose of misleading the prosecutors concerned in the service of the subpoena, as a result of which, these respondents failed to file their counter-affidavits. This practice smacks of a denial of due process of law and demonstrates a mockery of our prosecutorial and judicial system.

"In view hereof, you are all directed that, henceforth, all cases filed or which may be filed against the above named persons (whose true address is Poblacion, Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental), with addresses other than the true address, should be immediately brought to the attention of this Department for investigation or in the event that the address turns out to be true, the said cases should be forwarded to this Depart-ment for the requisite preliminary investi-gation, in the interest of justice."

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Here’s a heart-warming story on how Globe cell phones saved the day for a patient and operating surgeons. Last May 26-27, a group of medical doctor-volunteers from the Asian Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC) took part in a two-day medical, surgical and dental mission held at the Ramon Tumbocon Memorial Hospital in Kalibo, Aklan that was organized by the Guiding Light Ministries of Aklan and 403rd Transport (Linaheim) Battalion.

Dr. Orlando Diomampo, one of the volunteer-general surgeons and head of the general surgery section at AHMC recalled that on the first day of the mission, an unexpected large number of patients coming from the farthest towns in Aklan availed of the free medical and surgical services. Three hundred children lined up for circumcision, so that even the dentists pitched in to do the procedure.

Another surgeon, Dr. Ignacio San Gabriel Jr., chairman of the AHMC surgery depart-ment, said that right after their luggage was unloaded from the plane, they began surgical operations, beginning at 10 in the morning. There were so many patients, that the team wound up at 3 the next morning. The only break they had was when they had to go to the comfort room and ate balut for their midnight snack, as no restaurants were open.

A drama fit for the Guinness Book of Records occurred the next day, at 2 in the afternoon. While surgical operations were being performed in three operating rooms, the lights went out. The surgeons in two of the rooms had to proceed with their surgery with illumination from the natural light coming in through the windows. But in the third room, Dr. San Gabriel and Vicente Castillo were in the process of extracting a grapefruit-sized lymphoma (benign tumor of the fatty tissue). What to do?

"It was pitch-black," recalls Dr. Castillo. "It was like being inside a photographer’s dark room without even the red light. The only source of light was the faint light seeping through the small air space between the floor and the door. Then I thought of my cellular phone that I habitually carry like a necklace. I remembered that it had a built-in flashlight."

Wasting no time, Dr. Castillo, a long-time Globe postpaid subscriber, grabbed his Nokia 1130 unit from his chest, tuned on the built-in flashlight, and let Maia Lardizabal, attending volunteer nurse from AHMC, illuminate the patient’s body. Two other nurses from the Kalibo hospital brought out their cell phones, and the surgery was completed.

More than 500 major and minor surgeries were performed during the two-day mission, and over 1000 Aklanons benefited from the services rendered by the team. "From that experience, we learned that Kalibo needed an efficient power supply more than medical missions," said Sylvia Pacheo Lina in jest; she was the lady organizer of the project. She is the wife of former Customs Commissioner Bert Lina.

Mrs. Lina said the mission was started by her father, Rev. Ricardo Pacheco, 85, former engineer from Metro Manila, who conceived of the idea of giving free medical services to the poorest of the poor in the province. The first mission was conducted four years ago with only company doctors from the Lina Group of Companies.

Last year, Dr. Rodolfo Floro, medical director of AHMC, allowed a tie-up with the Christian ministry project, and got specialists to share their expertise during the two-day clinics. The AHMC team includes 12 spe-cialists, including ophthalmologists, OB-gynecologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists and pediatricians. Dr. Floro suc-cumbed to a heart attack last year, but the mission continues. This year, 37 doctors and eight nurses came from AHMC. Medicines were flown in from Manila and Cebu Pacific gave return plane tickets at a 50 percent discount.

Dr. Miguel Mendoza, said working with the team was very rewarding. Dr. Rebecca Singson, OB-Gyn, performed six surgeries in a day. Her most memorable operation was removing a myoma the size of a watermelon from a woman. She said, "The patient looked like she was five months pregnant. She was so poor she did not mind having the bukol for many years until she heard there was a chance to have the surgery done for free."

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