Doctors Ed and Gigi Valencia: Here comes the Sun

MANILA, Philippines - As full-time Cagayan De Oro-based missionaries, doctors Ed and Gigi Valencia have been around the country and in some parts of Asia to share their blessings with the needy, doing medical missions in Mindanao and community development and community health projects in Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and Cagayan de Oro. They also help in areas hardly reached by government organizations and humanitarian groups.

Both were formerly based in Manila as a practicing dentist and pediatrician, respectively. Doc Ed, a graduate of the UST College of Medicine, holds a master’s degree in public health. Doc Gigi specialized in aesthetic dentistry after graduating from the Centro Escolar University College of Dentistry. They chose to leave Manila and heeded God’s call to work with communities in Mindanao. “God sent us here,” Doc Ed says.

 The couple has been through a lot of hardships, one being the aftermath caused by surviving the dreadful bombing of a passenger ship in 2004. Yet, they still manage to look back at what happened with smiles on their faces. “We are ordinary people with an extraordinary story who are given an opportunity by God to see and experience His love,” Doc Gigi shares. “We collaborate with our fellow missionaries to design projects that we feel would best address the people’s main problem at hand.”

Currently, Ed and Gigi supervise a preschool in Lanao Del Norte that has already schooled eight batches of kids, each group consisting of 35 young and eager students, for 10 years. They also conduct mothers’ classes in each person’s house in Lanao to teach mothers how to cook meals for their children, do basic gardening, budget funds and allowances, and utilize basic life skills.

They see communication as an important tool for their mission. “We constantly communicate with our project partners, colleagues, and fellow missionaries,” explains Ed. “I get important calls any time of the day from concerned patients who need my immediate advice. I touch base with my friends who practice dentistry often so that I’m always updated with what is new,” adds Gigi.

Good thing the couple found the strongest communication partner.

“We are bona fide, loyal, and happy subscribers of Sun Cellular,” Gigi explains. The couple admits that Sun’s affordable rates encouraged them to get three phones under Sun’s Plan 350. “We get to utilize the power of our mobile phones anytime, anywhere with Plan 350. It’s packed with unlimited Sun-to-Sun calls and texts, and 250 free texts to other networks, so we really get to cut our costs. One line is for Gigi and I, one for her parents, and one for our chief operating officer (COO),” adds Ed.

With Sun, the couple gets to say hi to their kids, touch base with their patients, coordinate with their friends and partners in the ministry, and stay in touch with their fellow pediatricians and dentists in the medical industry. “We have encouraged our ministry friends, project coordinators, families, and colleagues to switch to Sun so that everyone is within reach,” Gigi says.

Sun has a wide coverage in Mindanao. It recently launched Sun Magic Zone Mindanao SIM, a SIM specially made for Mindanao residents who use their mobile phones to call and text their friends within Mindanao. Exclusive, inexpensive load products are available for Sun Magic Zone Mindanao SIM at affordable prices. The Sun Magic Zone Mindanao SIM may also be used to call and text outside Mindanao using Sun Cellular’s nationwide value-packed offerings.