More than 4,000 residents in 60 barangays in Catanduanes received medical and dental care as well as gift packs from the 2023 Gift of Love Medical Dental and Humanitarian Mission conducted by the United Catanduanes San Diego (UCSD) & Friends last week.
Mounted in cooperation with the Diocese of Virac and concerned local government units, the Feb. 12-17 mission spearheaded by UCSD President Dr. Oscar Enriquez organized three teams that spread out to cover all 11 towns as well as the Virac District Jail.
In all, 2,307 people received free medical consultations and medicines and 1,146 availed themselves of dental services.
Another 216 residents, mostly pregnant and lactating mothers and their children, were attended to by obstetricians and pediatricians while 1,265 got free reading glasses courtesy of UCSD & Friends.
The beneficiary barangays in each town were clustered around the designated venue: Oguis in Bato (3 clustered barangays); Pagsangahan, San Miguel (10 barangays); Mayngaway, San Andres (7 barangays); Sicmil, Gigmoto (5 barangays); Alinawan, Panganiban (6 barangays); Oco, Viga (5 barangays); Bugao, Bagamanoc (7 barangays); Magnesia, Virac (7 barangays); Tubli, Caramoran (5 barangays); and Cobo, Pandan (5 barangays).
The 43 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) at the Virac District Jail in Calatagan Tibang also received medical care, medicines and gift packs, while 15 detainees got free dental services.
On its second year of sharing life and love to deserving fellow Catandunganons, the group partnered with the Bishop of Virac, Most Rev. Manolo delos Santos, Governor Joseph Cua, the 11 municipal mayors, the Catanduanes Medical Society (CMS), the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) Catanduanes Chapter, the Catanduanes State University’s Federated College Student Council, the Sangguniang Kabataan Municipal Federation of Virac, and a group of optometrists, pharmacists, nurses and medical technologists.
Serving as major sponsors were the Texan Friends of Catanduanes (TFC), Waraynon Initiative Network (WIN), cardiologist Dr. Murlidhar Amin Cardiologist of Port Arthur in Texas, Bob Spencer and the Rotary Club of Greater Chino Hills, Standard Medical Clinic of Southeast Texas and Catandunganons, and Friends from the USA.
Mission churches and small parishes covering depressed barangays located outside of the población of the eleven municipalities were chosen in consultation with Bishop delos Santos to give chance to poor and deserving constituents to avail of the offered services without them spending for costly transportation, with considerations on the accessibility and availability of covered venue.
The Gift of Love Humanitarian Mission in Catanduanes
ON FEBRUARY 17, 2023
by Chit Tribiana
February 14, 2023. Valentine’s Day.
Heart images, roses. love symbols everywhere. You know, everything that shouts out LOVE – of the romantic type, that is.
Where I choose to be and how I spent this day speaks of another type of love. Am referring to ‘agape’ which, in contrast to romantic love, extends to the love between God and men and therefore reflects one’s love of his fellow men. This is manifested in acts of charity, compassion, and unselfish love for others. Agape, without question, is the highest form of love.
I take this to be the most apt term for what the United Catanduanes San Diego (UCSD) and Friends, has adopted as its reason for being. UCSD is a nonprofit charitable group that organizes medical and humanitarian missions to benefit the remote areas of Catanduanes.
For five days starting February 13 this year, this group composed of US-based professionals with roots from Catanduanes, volunteers from the island province and other places, and a host of other kindred souls, gathered and organized themselves into teams to fulfill the mission of sharing the Gift of Love to all 11 municipalities of Catanduanes.
Underserved barangays outside of the poblaci6n were designated as activity centers, taking into account their accessibility to other nearby barrios. In close coordination with mission churches and local parishes, beneficiaries were pre-selected based on their needs, to ensure a faster and more efficient flow of activities.
Day 2, with the Sicmil team
The second day of the mission brought us to Sicmil, a barangay in the municipality of Gigmoto, while another team was posted in Mayngaway in San Andres. Getting to Sicmil from the provincial capital of Virac takes about two hours through winding roads that provide a view of rolling hills, verdant mountains, and beaches. UCSD president Dr. Oscar Enriquez regards the travel route as something similar to Maui in Hawaii; but he quickly qualifies that the Catanduanes version is even better, that the Catanduanes version is even better and more scenic. He fondly refers to the place as “his Maui.”
The UCSD mission stop in Sicmil shows the extent of preparation, attention to details, and coordination among different groups that went into the final implementation of a long and exhaustive process. It mirrors how similar teams assigned to different barangays would go about their activities for an entire day.
Personal Sidelights
My memories of the 2023 UCSD-Sicmil stop will always include getting to meet Esmeraldo Tawat, a 93-year-old resident of Tinago (some six kilometers away from Sicmil). Tang Esmeng, despite his age, is remarkably sharp; he remembers the month, day, year – and even the time of his birth! He was there to get some help regarding his vision problems. With him were some of his children and grandchildren – three generations of a family that received gifts of love from UCSD.
Some beneficiaries who got to experience being served by the medical mission for the first time approached me to express their appreciation and thanks for the goods and services they received during the day. Amused by being addressed as ‘doctora,’ (perhaps owing to the vest I was wearing that had the UCSD logo), I had to explain that I was a mere cog in the wheel and that appreciation should be accorded to those people who dedicated so much time, effort, resources, and love to bring the project to reality.
Lourdes Penola, a middle-aged mom, promptly said, “Diit man na tabang o dacula, ga-pasalamat ako sa tabang ninyo sa samuyang mga nanga-ipo.” Her words, spoken simply, were particularly heart melting. She lovingly expressed that help, whether big or small when extended to the needy, is something to be thankful for.
Standing close to her was her sister, another housewife with her youngest child in tow. She had this to say: ”Ang pasalamat ko sa Diyos buda sa tabang kang mga tawong pareho ninyo. ” (My thanks go to God and to the help of people like you.) The validation sounded so good and inspiring. Hope to experience this again in 2026.