Residents in remote barangay receive medical attention

CEBU, Philippines — Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) sent a medical mission to Tubod, a remote community in the hinterlands of San Fernando, Cebu, providing residents with sought-after medical attention.

Housewife Norbeta Canillo got so delighted by the mission as her daughter Angelica, 12, finally got attended by doctors after suffering unexplained headache and stomachache since she got injected by a publicly administered vaccine.

“We have been very wary as my daughter had always suffered persistent stomachache and headache since she got injected with Dengvaxia,” she shared.

“From sheer poverty, I treated her with some herbal medicines like Euphorbia Hirta and papaya,” she said, adding she is pleased of the vitamins and some medicines the doctors gave that she hoped would alleviate her daughter’s health.

SEDC director Hiroyuki Sakakibara oversaw the mission with Shigeki Koide, vice president for administration of Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc. (TCPI) that supported the activity with some resources and manpower.

The Tubod mission served 417 resident, 159 of them adults and 115 children, plus 19 others with dental cases and 124 who got new spectacles for eyesight and reading issues, disclosed Mitzie Almira I. Carin, the lead SEDC division manager.

She said the mission attended to patients with cases hypertension, arthritis, myalgia (body pains), common cough and colds, fever, stomachache and some skin rashes.

Tubod barangay captain Teodora E. Canoy led barangay councilors, health workers and teachers in supporting the mission that they are very thankful for.

“Most residents here could hardly approach a physician for being poor, even fare for transportation is expensive for them as this place is just too far from the town proper,” she quipped.

Tubod National High School head teacher Kathlene Marie P. Gencono said the teachers have long known the dire need for medical attention among Tubod residents, especially the children, and are thankful for the SEDC mission.

“Clearly, SEDC pursued this mission not for being prodded upon by its top officials but the employees’ sincere intent to help Tubod and the other barangays in San Fernando,” she said.

The barangay councilors who served during the mission included Efren Baring, Boena Venturada Paypa, Valerio Canoy, Camelo Sillon, Aquilino Rabadon and Felix Villasurda.

The series of medical missions SEDC and TCPI undertook since 2005 have to date served 24, 554 patients.