Twins to get scholarship from Loren

The Siamese twins who were successfully separated in Taiwan by a 60-member all-Taiwanese medical team will receive a scholarship grant from Sen. Loren Legarda.

Legarda, who flew to Hualien City in Taiwan to attend the pre-homecoming and thanksgiving rites for one-year-old Rachel Sunset and Lea Grace Awel, said that her foundation will take care of the twins’ education.

Loren’s LIBRO has brought to school countless children from the poorest regions of the country.

Lee Wei-song, a Buddhist from Taiwan who works for humanitarian organizations, met the twins and their parents at the Philippine Children’s Hospital sometime in June this year. Lee brought the plight of the twins to the attention of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association, whose mother organization, the Tzu Chi Foundation based in Taiwan, facilitated the operation after two months.

Legarda said the humanitarian assistance provided by the foundation should spur local organizations, including doctors’ associations, to do their share in easing the plight of less fortunate Filipinos.

Lea and Rachel, along with their mother, Marietta, arrived in Manila the other day. Carmen Tan, wife of Philippine Airlines (PAL) chairman Lucio Tan, provided roundtrip plane tickets for the Awels and the doctors who accompanied them.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Edgardo Manda said that the twins’ parents, Andy and Marietta, expressed appreciation for all the help and assistance extended to their children and thanked everybody who made the operation possible.

Manda said that a friend and townmate of the couple, a certain James Eduba, introduced the twins to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo for medical assistance. Mr. Arroyo sponsored the twins’ medical checkup at the Philippine Children’s Hospital prior to their endorsement to the Tzu Chi Foundation.

Although the operation was successful, Rachel and Lea will be admitted at the Chinese General Hospital upon arrival in Manila for complete rehabilitation and post-operation medical care for at least three months.