As I write this article, which is noontime, Feb. 14, the feast of St. Valentine, I cannot help but be aware of the fact that we Filipinos are such incurable romantics. One of the news items on television last night was a recent survey that showed a good 40 percent of Filipinos believe in the power of Cupid. This particular percentage mirrors a fact that still amazes me: that “Filipino men are the best lovers in the world.” Of course, this is not from any survey but comes from the lips of the Filipino Macho Male. I do not intend to dispute this today — perhaps at some future time.
Being Valentine’s Day, I’d like to talk about the heart, which is the fundamental organ where love originates, sizzles, and then permeates our being. It is an organ that has to be given by its owner utmost devotion and care — this according to the Foundation for Lay Education on Heart Diseases Inc. (FLEHD), which preaches this credo with a kind of intensity that I discovered on the evening of Jan. 26, where I also met some of the most devoted medical practitioners in the country.
The foundation is dedicated to the knowledge empowerment of Filipinos from all walks of life on matters pertaining to the heart.
Born on Feb. 6, 1999, FLEHD was formally launched before world authorities on preventive cardiology who were in the Philippines for the four-day 7th World Congress of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention. From then on, there was no stopping the strides and the progress achieved by the organization. I had heard of FLEHD but had never been able to find out the foundation’s accomplishments until Jan. 26 when I sat as chairman of the board of judges of an oratorical contest sponsored by the organization.
Dr. Adolfo B. Belosillo is not only the organization’s founder but also its spark plug; he is a man dedicated to educating people on the diseases of man’s most important organ, the heart.
His friend Nellie Bengzon provided the inspiration for the successes of an organization which has, after just seven years, managed to hold 182 public fora on the foundation’s mandate, 20 barangay health workers’ workshops, eight senior citizen seminars, two healthcare professionals in service conferences, seven national annual conventions, five regional assemblies, etc. It is now in its ninth year.
At the oratorical contest which had contestants from the ranks of medical students throughout the country, I was privileged to have as the two other members of the board of judges, Fr. Alberto Ampil, SJ, one of our country’s most experienced and valuable educators, and Dr. Antonio Rivera, chief medical officer of the Asian Hospital, and one of the most notable orthopedic surgeons in the land.
Not only was I in good company as a judge, I also thoroughly enjoyed the singing contest which was simultaneously undertaken. I had never been in anything like this before. First we would have an oration, then a song belted out by medical students all talking or singing in excellently delivered prose or lyrics.
I was seated beside the chairman of the singing contest, the very youthful dean of the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music, Ramon Acaymo, tenor par excellence. Indeed a very gifted signer and performer, he performed with the two members of the board of judges for the singing contest: UP Concert Chorus directress Jai Sabas Aracama and composer Jeremiah Calisang. They were outstanding singers and they gave us great listening pleasure. They were certainly competent to judge the singing contest that followed.
It was a first for me to judge an oratorical contest that came with a singing contest which everyone in the audience loved. I could see that my two colleagues, Fr. Ampil and Dr. Rivera, enjoyed the contests as well.
The themes of both contests centered on the heart and why people needed education on heart care, in the same manner that the singing contest featured either the words and music of composer Jeremiah Calisang or lyrics by Dr. Adolfo Belosillo, who I discovered was and has always been the heart and soul of FLEHD.
Jose “Joecon” Concepcion of NAMFREL fame is FLEHD’s chairman and he delivered a heartwarming message.
It was actually Nellie Bengzon, the most vibrant and active member of the board of trustees, who made sure I would be able to attend. If Dr. Belosillo is the heart and spark plug of the organization, Nellie is the female counterpart. The two of them make an excellent team, which gives the organization not only the logistical support to move forward, but also the inspiration to sustain this kind of consistent forward mobility.
Some of the topics that have been discussed at FLEHD’s different fora are the following: “Know your heart and how it works;” “Heart attack: How do I know I am having it;” “Hypertension: The silent killer;” “Cholesterol, the good and the bad; Smoke gets in your heart;” “Life cannot be sweet if you are a diabetic;” “The longer the waistline, the shorter the lifespan;” “Nothing romantic about heart disease;” and “Sex and the heart: Fact and fiction.”
Winners of the contest were Karen Louise Senadrin (UST) for the oratorical contest and John David Castillo (FEU-NRMF) for the singing contest. Their hearts are certainly in the right place.
The event became FLEHD’s early Valentine’s gift to us judges, warming our hearts no end. Quoting from one of their songs: “Now is the time to rejoice, to celebrate what we have done. We’ve won the mission to care for healthy hearts to prevail.”
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