Mission from the heart

MANILA, Philippines – To many Filipinos, students of the International School Manila have been boxed into stereotypes: they’re either spoiled, self-centered, rich kids who party all night and couldn’t care less about others around them, or geeks who talk in high falluting language that would probably go over the heads of ordinary teeners.  And while admittedly, a lot have become successful icons of business due to their being SOBs  (sons of bosses), there is an equally large number who have made it by themselves, on their own merits, and contribute to society in very special ways.

This is particularly true in  the medical field, and ISM counts among its illustrious alumni from the turbulent 70s era pediatric immunologist Kathy Luzuriaga (class 1974), who was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People after she headed a team of laboratory investigators at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in discovering a functional cure for HIV-infected infants. 

There is also Arturo Pesigan (class 1977), presently the technical officer of the Emergency and Humanitarian Action unit of the Regional Office for the Western Pacific of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Quite popular among mothers who frequent Makati Medical Center and Asian Hospital is Lynn Butler (class 1975), who has been practicing pediatric neurology for 25 years now. And from St. Luke’s Medical Center, there is Philip del Carmen (class 1975), who for the past 17 years has been holding free clinics, by himself, for children in Sagada.

Art and Philip, who both studied at the University of the Philippines, carried the yen for community work well beyond their practicum years. But while Art is now heavily involved in WHO’s humanitarian efforts in the region, Philip, in his own way, has doggedly brought public health to remote areas of the country up north. In so doing, he has brought down children from indigent families who need heart surgeries by tediously raising funds in one way or another.

Heart Center doctors have accepted any patient that Philip brings from Sagada. These are children that he has seen since they were months old, diagnosed without any laboratory tests. He detects at least 5-10 cases of congenital heart disease in each of his visits up north. That’s about 170 cases so far.

A simple heart procedure costs about P15,000, but total actual cost of the operation and hospitalization runs up to over P160,000. He has brought the parents of the children to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for help, but honestly feels his energies waning, physically and mentally.   

“There was one case where a doctor we were to meet was a no show, and the family waited the whole day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., only to be told to come back next year!” Philip rues. He has begun asking himself if he can really do more of this.

But throughout his travels, Philip has had as witness to his brush with the disadvantaged and marginalized his Panasonic Lumix camera, which had captured in faithful detail – both in color and black & white – the life of our fellow Filipinos up north. Inspired by his dogged determination and his visually artistic acumen, Café by the Ruins in Baguio has agreed to hold a special exhibition of his photographs in hopes that the proceeds can help fund his missions. Owners of the café led by Laida Lim and Celestina Arvisu are waiving commissions from the sale of his photographic works.    Entitled “Dagdagop:  A Gathering,” the exhibit opened on Nov. 19 and will run until January 2016.

“When I told my colleagues at St. Luke’s about my work in Sagada, some of them asked if  I could help bring their charity patients there. I said no, because I really want to reserve efforts for the really needy ones – families who could not even raise fares to come to Manila, who have never seen Manila,” Philip explains.  “Then I always get a reply that I will be blessed etc. But you see, I am not doing this for pogi points, or to announce to society my good deeds. I do it because it has to be done. I do what I can, while I can.”

Chatting with Philip del Carmen leaves one with the impression that he gets quite emotionally tired venting such issues. But when the little seven-year-old girl, Juvelyn Aligo, whom he recently brought to Manila for surgery, smiles at him to say:  “Ga dakel bday gift,” her unabated gratitude for a new lease on life obviously energizes him to go on.