(Laguna, Philippines) –
Medical professionals from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), municipal health workers, and the Guam Army National Guard (GUARNG) treated thousands of residents from two municipalities in the province of Laguna, during a two-day medical mission last weekend.
The cities of Calamba and Cabuyao in Laguna, about a two-hour drive south of the Philippine capital of Manila, were the sites for this joint Medical Readiness Training Exercise Subject Matter Expert Exchange (MEDRETE SMEE) under the U.S. State Partnership Program (SPP). The SPP is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Defense administered by the National Guard Bureau.
The medical mission, conducted in support of an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) initiative, was conducted on August 25 and 26. Members of the AFP J9 (Deputy Commander for Reserve and Retiree Affairs), and the AFP Reserve Command, led the medical mission and coordinated with Local Government Units and Agencies (LGUs/LGAs of the municipalities), as well as the 202nd Infantry Brigade (Philippine Army, Southern Luzon Command), Philippine Air Reserve Command, Philippine Army Reserve Command, and Philippine Naval Reserve Command, which brought over 60 medical professionals to the MEDRETE SMEE.
The team from Guam was a joint group, with 25 medical professionals from the Guam Guard Medical Detachment, including doctors, nurses and other medical staff, joined by four medical professionals from the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, and five from the U.S. Air Force Reserve 624th Aerospace Medicine Squadron.
The types of treatment provided to the residents at both towns included dental procedures, family medical consultations, minor surgeries, circumcisions and vision exams. Following the vision exams, reading glasses, sunglasses and eye drops were given out.
There were more residents treated in Laguna than previous missions, according to GUARNG officials. A total of almost 10,800 patients were treated by the joint team in the two day mission, said MAJ Sheila Compton-Rivo, medical planner for the Guam Army Guard Medical Detachment. This sets a new record since the Guam Guard started with the SPP medical missions a few years ago. A medical mission last May held in the province of Pampanga recorded over 7,000 residents being treated.
MAJ Jumar Castro, SPP coordinator for the Guam Guard, attributes the larger number of residents seen to an increase in participation of the LGUs, including the mayors and health care leaders, local hospitals, universities, and civic organizations as well as the economic status of the residents in these municipalities, especially in Cabuyao.
"This event, like any other SPP mission, is a very rewarding experience. The entire medical team, both Filipino and American, worked very hard in order to see a smile on someone's face or to hear a simple, 'Thank You for your help!'," Castro said.
Volunteers from a variety of local health care related organizations joined in the combined medical mission at both locations. These included: Perpetual Nursing College which brought its clinical instructors and nursing students; the Cabuyao Dental Club; the Cabuyao Medical Society; East Avenue Medical Center; medical students from the University of Santo Tomas; and health care volunteers from the Perpetual Health College. Members of the Philippine National Police from both Calamba and Cabuyao cities also provided security and traffic assistance at the mission sites.
MAJ Jose Asensi, Civil Military Affairs Officer, AFP 17th Ready Reserve Division, and spokesman for the AFP, said the medical mission has been a great help to the residents, particularly since many of the residents were affected by the recent flooding.
“It is also very timely because we have lots of flood victims … in the rural areas. They are in the evacuation centers… Medical missions like these make the relationship between the Philippines and the United States stronger,” Asensi said.
Southville I Elementary School was the epicenter for the combined medical mission in Cabuyao, a densely populated rural area.
School Principal Reynaldo Talavera, said many of the residents around the school were former squatters in Metro Manila and were resettled in Cabuyao. His overcrowded school has a population of 6,000 students, with classes divided into morning and afternoon sessions. He oversees 114 teachers and staff members, pinning the ratio of teachers to students at an average of one teacher to about 60 students. Talavera said all of his teachers and staff members showed up to assist during the medical mission at his school, a Sunday.
“This medical mission is very lucky (sic) for the Filipino people, particularly for this community in Cabuyao, Laguna. This is the relocation area for those poor families in Manila… This can be recorded as one of the historical (events) in our locality because we have several doctors, we have several armies, that really helped the people of this community,” he said.
At both medical mission sites, the combined medical team started treating residents from about 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Missions like these, conducted, through the SPP also, help strengthen relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the U.S. The SPP is a Department of Defense sponsored program administered by the National Guard Bureau (NGB), partnering Guard units from different states with selected countries for nation building, among other projects. The Philippines is the Guam Guard’s partner state.