Operation Smile brings perfect smiles to Cebu

A multinational group of 31 medical doctors, including plastic surgeons, orthodontists, anesthesiologists, and other medical specialists visited Cebu recently.

The much appreciated medical team, all members of Operation Smile International, a nonprofit volunteer medical service organization, provided free reconstructive surgery and related care and recovery at the Vicente Sotto Medical Memorial Center to indigent children and young adults afflicted with cleft lip and palate, and other serious facial deformities.

Dr. William P. Magee and his wife Kelly, a nurse and clinical social worker, founded the no-nonsense organization in 1982, bless them, shortly after returning with a team of doctors from an enriching medical mission in Naga, Camarines Sur.

What previously started as just an adventure trip has now fortunately transformed into a lifelong, passionate crusade and untiring commitment that spans the globe, performing charitable undertakings to assist helpless children overcome their deformities and lead productive lives.

In addition to the medical missions, Operation Smile continuously provides training and education to medical professionals and health care workers in mission countries. To date 12,512 indigent children in the Philippines alone have received free reconstructive surgery. Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung, a genuine philanthropist with a golden heart and active chairperson of the charitable foundation, has been involved in several praiseworthy programs helping those that have less in life, has selflessly dedicated her time and resources to this very laudable project for almost a decade.

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Ana Climaco and Tina Bonoan, two dynamic lady furniture makers with a discerning eye for the unusual, were hosts to an appreciation dinner for their clients and would-be customers who attended the Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition held at the Cebu Waterfront Hotels and Casino.

Choice selection of fine crafted furniture and an array of unique household accent pieces were artistically arranged at the beautifully landscaped, everyone’s dream of a garden of the Climacos to form an impressive showcase of fabulous works of art. Swambi Inc. designs and manufactures exclusive rattan furniture and fixtures that incorporate wood and leather, abaca, and natural shells in a variety of finishes.

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Regina Kabigting, marketing communications manager of the Heritage Hotel Manila, breezed into town to update Cebuanos on the latest on the hotel scene. Among them were the recent appointment of Eddie Yeo as the new general manager of the five-star Heritage Hotel Manila by the Singapore-based Millennium and Copthorne International Limited.

A veteran hotelier who holds more than 30 years of management and operational experience in managing and supervising hotel operations, Yeo has been assigned to identify new business opportunities, strengthen the management team and contribute positively to the further improvement in the operations of the Heritage Hotel Manila.