TUBOD, San Fernando, Cebu (March 12, 2018) — Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) sent last Saturday a medical mission to this secluded community in the far hinterlands of this town, providing residents with sought-after medical attention.
Housewife Norbeta Canillo got so delighted by the mission as her daughter Angelica, 12, finally got attended by doctors after suffering unexplained headache and stomachache since she got injected by a publicly administered vaccine.
“Dako na kaayo ang among kabalaka tungod sa kanunay nga pagpanakit sa tiyan ug ulo nga giantos sa akong anak sukad nga na-injectionan og Dengvaxia,” she shared.
(We have been very wary as my daughter had always suffered persistent stomachache and headache since she got injected with Dengvaxia.)
“Tungod lagi sa among kawad-on, gipainom ra nako (siya) og herbal sama sa mangagaw ug laki nga kapayas,” she said, adding she is pleased of the vitamins and some medicines the doctors gave that she hoped would alleviate her daughter’s health.
(From sheer poverty, I treated her with some herbal medicines like Euphorbia Hirta and male papaya.)
SEDC director Hiroyuki Sakakibara oversaw the mission with Shigeki Koide, vice president for administration of Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc. (TCPI) that supported the activity with some resources and manpower.
The Tubod mission served 417 resident, 159 of them adults and 115 children, plus 19 others with dental cases and 124 who got new spectacles for eyesight and reading issues, disclosed Mitzie Almira I. Carin, the lead SEDC division manager.
She said the mission attended to patients with cases hypertension, arthritis, myalgia (body pains), common cough and colds, fever, stomachache and some skin rashes.
TCPI physician Ildebrando Estella led the volunteer doctors, including his wife Easter Lette and Drs. Debra Marie Capulong, Normacita Infantado and Galileo Velasquez, as well as dentists Phil Raymond Oacan and Pearl Angeli Cabautan.
Tubod barangay captain Teodora E. Canoy led barangay councilors, health workers and teachers in supporting the mission that they are very thankful for.
“Kasagaran sa mga lumulupyo niining dapita panagsa ra jud maka-duol og doktor tungod sa kawad-on, mahal sab ang pletehan kung molugsong tungod sa gilay-on sa among dapit,” she quipped.
(Most residents here could hardly approach a physician for being poor, even fare for transportation is expensive for them as this place is just too far from the town proper.)
Tubod National High School head teacher Kathlene Marie P. Gencono said the teachers have long known the dire need for medical attention among Tubod residents, especially the children, and are thankful for the SEDC mission.
“Clearly, SEDC pursued this mission not for being prodded upon by its top officials but the employees’ sincere intent to help Tubod and the other barangays in San Fernando,” she said.
The barangay councilors who served during the mission included Efren Baring, Boena Venturada Paypa, Valerio Canoy, Camelo Sillon, Aquilino Rabadon and Felix Villasurda.
The series of medical missions SEDC and TCPI undertook since 2005 have to date served 24,554 patients.
