CEBU, Philippines – “I won the fight!” Though tired and weak after his trip from Houston, Texas, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said that he has won his battle with cancer.
He said that the crisis that he faced even turned into an opportunity as a leading cancer center has expressed interest to invest at the South Road Properties (SRP).
Osmeña and wife Margot arrived at 11:14 a.m. yesterday in a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong.
Just like all passengers, the mayor and his wife also went through the required thermal scanning of arriving passengers, which is part of the precautions taken to prevent the spread of the dreaded swine flu.
The welcome party composed of close friends, family and City Hall officials led by Vice Mayor Michael Rama observed that the mayor, who was clad in a maroon polo shirt and black pants appeared to be thinner.
Compared to his previous trip here last March, his head is no longer bald. Margot said that the mayor’s hair grew fast after the surgery to remove his bladder.
The mayor was at City Hall by 3 p.m. and was met by the employees and his supporters serenaded by the rondalla of Pardo Elementary School.
“From Stage 4 cancer, to no trace of cancer, I believe the Sto. Niño really has something to do with it,” Osmeña said in a press conference.
He said the doctors at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center told him they could not ask for a better report on his treatment.
The surgery included the removal of his urinary bladder, prostate and 40 lymph nodes.
“I won the fight but I am still recovering. I am still very exhausted, because of the surgery, it is not the cancer that is making me feel this way, there are so many incisions and stitches inside me, but I’ll get stronger in a few weeks,” he said.
He said he will have to have a series of CT scans, first every three months, then every six months and eventually every year after the surgery last April.
The Mayor said he is weaker than his last trip back to Cebu, but he is happy that he lost weight.
Regarding his diet, Osmeña said the doctors did not give him any restrictions.
For now he said he cannot run and carry heavy things and so his schedule will not be tight in the next two weeks.
Osmeña said he however found something positive way to used his time rather than “rot” in his apartment.
“According to the Chinese, the two definitions of crisis is one danger and the other is opportunity, and so find a way to get the interest of MD Anderson to be here in Cebu,” Osmeña said.
He said he talked with the hospital administrator and the global operations officer and said they are interested to the possibility of having a branch of the center at the SRP.
That is why he is immediately composing a special team to organize and to set the mood for the possible establishment of the cancer center.
“To get the MD Anderson be interested in Cebu is a very big challenge, it would mean a lot for Cebu, it is the recognition that Cebu can take the best cancer center to come here,” he said.
“In the 40 top hospitals, MD Anderson is number one if not number two, it has the lowest mortality rate,” he said.
The special team he said will have to make Cebuanos also be interested with having MD Anderson here.
The SRP, which the Mayor termed as his “baby” is seen to become a central business district.
He said among his initial appointments are with the officials of Filinvest Land Incorporated and probable investor this Sunday, who is a big resort investor in Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
In the same news conference Osmeña said he will not make the same move as the province in questioning the irregularity of the prices of the three oil companies.
“We will not fight them, but we will just compete with them, the drivers are planning to have their own gasoline station so we will support them with that,” he said.
The Mayor was diagnosed with urinary bladder cancer seven months ago. –/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)