t
seems like only yesterday. I feel like I have taken a quick
flight in a time machine in the mid-1950s which has been transported
to the mid-1990s in a split second. Indeed, time has flown
by with the blink of an eye.
I still remember my father
driving me to FEU in our old Woody Jeep station wagon. I usually
took the bus or "jitney" to school, but he insisted
on driving me this time because it was a special day. I was
starting as a freshman in the Institute of Medicine. The year
was 1956.
After
a brief orientation, the batch of 1961 dove (or shall I say
was pushed?) right into the fathomless sea of books, books
and more books. The rigorous discipline of a medical education
was most often overwhelming. There were simply not enough
hours in the day to accomplish what we were supposed to do.
It felt like a never-ending endeavor-day after day, week after
week, month after month. We started to realize then the seriousness
of the task of becoming physicians.
The annoying smell of formaldehyde
in the anatomy lab and the penetrating "aroma" of
hydrogen sulfide in the biochemistry lab soon became a part
of us. It was our eau de toilette. Soon we were walking around
smelling like the cadavers. And sometimes H2S became a convenient
social excuse.
Most of us, at one time or
another, were faced with a riddle in the dissection room trying
to identify a part or parts of the anatomy that seemed strange,
only to find out later that one of us had "rearranged"
the tissues on the cadaver.
On one anatomy exam, Dr. Teddy
Luna, our Instructor, could not properly prop up a full segment
of the trachea, so he placed it between the thighs of the
male cadaver and pointed the arrow at it. After checking our
test papers for that quiz, he was in spasmodic laughter. He
relayed to us that some poor innocent female medical students
in our class thought the trachea was a male organ.
And then, there was the Biochemistry
exam with open books given by Dr. Alfredo Navato, Sr. We were
allowed to bring and open as many books as we wanted to. We
thought it was great, a chance to perfect the score. After
the time was up, many of us suffered from aching arms (for
carrying several heavy books), eyestrain and headaches. And
confusion!
A hilarious incident happened
one day while we were waiting for a prelim exam. A classmate
of ours, whose name shall remain anonymous, had meticulously
written his detailed "kodiko" on the desk of his
chair in one of the sectional rooms at the Girl's High. We
were all finally seated when suddenly the Instructor announced
that we were moving to the next room. Our dear classmate attempted
unsuccessfully to carry his desk to the next room, and we
were all laughing. He passed that exam without his encyclopedic
desk.
Amidst the seriousness and
busy academic schedule, there were lighter moments every now
and then that gave us a welcome break. The class picnics,
outings, and parties provided us with valued time to know
each other better and make friends for life. And our class
had a fair share of this R & R over the years.
Some
of our classmates joined the Beta Sigma or Sigma Mu Sigma
fraternity or sorority. Many were members of the Student Catholic
Action, the Student PMA, and other associations. Members of
United Class '61 practically dominated these organizations,
including the Student Council. I had the privilege of starting
The Medical Student, the official student publication of the
FEU Institute of Medicine. I remember how supportive Dean
Lauro Panganiban, Dr. J.B. Nolasco (Secretary of the Institute),
Dr. Ricardo Alfonso (our intern class adviser) and Dr. Horacio
Ylagan (our newspaper adviser) were of this project.
Student politics in college
sometimes became too serious. At one time, rumors had it that
I, a presidential candidate then, "was to be hurt the
day before the elections" by the opposing camp to dissuade
me from participating. The following day, my Beta Fraternity
brod and good friend, Vic Verzosa, a defiant and stalwart
Cebuano, brought in a huge bolo to school and publicly challenged
"anyone to try and harm Philip." As a 94-pound weakling,
the gesture made me feel more secure. Our candidates won the
elections that year.
On November 5 & 6, 1960,
our university and our class were in the national limelight
when the Third Annual Convention of the Student PMA was held
in the FEU Auditorium. The incumbent president of the Student
PMA then was from FEU. All the five major universities were
represented, with a total attendance of more than 800 medical
students. This conference was graced with the presence of
Health Secretary Paulino J. Garcia, M.D., Senator Pacita Madrigal
Warns, PMA President Francisco Duque, M.D. (who later became
Health Secretary himself), World Medical Association president
Alberto Romualdez, M.D., Dean and Mrs. Lauro H. Panganiban,
Ricardo L. Alfonso, M.D., Fe Del Mundo, M.D., Felino V. Barnes,
M.D., and other faculty members.
Our class rotated through
San Lazaro Hospital, Rizal Provincial Hospital, National Orthopedic
Hospital, National Mental Hospital. For internship, some went
to Clark Field Air Base Hospital, others to North General
Hospital and the rest to FEU Hospital.
Internship was a happy and
memorable time in our lives as medical students. This was
the peak all of us had focused our sights on as we struggled
through rough terrains with valleys and hills during those
four years of hard grind and tough ascent. Finally, we were
almost real doctors!
Like
the first four batches ahead of us since the FEU Institute
of Medicine opened its doors in June of 1952, we were fortunate
to have giants and luminaries in the medical academia, among
them the cream of the crop of the University of the Philippines
Class '40, as our professors and heads of the various departments.
They did not only teach us the science of medicine but also
about discipline and the art of living itself.
The high quality of medical
education at the FEU Institute of Medicine won the respect
and admiration of the other six major medical schools in the
country. The results of the medical board examinations each
year confirmed that the recognition was well deserved. In
1961, FEU nearly made a clean sweep of the medical board examinations.
Our very own Vic Versoza topped the board exam, and our class
got eight of the ten top places that year. The University
of Santo Tomas got the fourth and eight places.
When
the much awaited event finally came on April 8, 1961, my feelings,
like those of our classmates, were torn. Finally, we were
graduating, and that meant we were parting with "our
friends for life" and our Alma Mater. A small part of
me inside was glad and another, sad. The most sentimental
moment in those five years was, indeed, graduation day. It
was a bittersweet segment of our lives. We were gaining something
and at the same time losing many things. We were "free
at last, free at last." We achieved our goal. But we
were a little scared to face the world for the first time
as full-fledged Doctors of Medicine.
The mixed emotions in all
of us sometimes subdued the otherwise happy and triumphant
occasion. We were rejoicing, and yet we felt a little sense
of emptiness in our hearts. Tears were shed as we smiled,
embraced and said farewell to one another. Shall we see each
other again? Only God knew. But we certainly hoped and prayed
so.
The government adopted the
"Filipino First" Policy. The president was Carlos
P. Garcia, and the vice president was Diosdado Macapagal,
who later succeeded him. The Philippine economy at the time
was second only to Japan, which was number one in Southeast
Asia. It was a prestigious position for our nativeland. In
the Vatican, the reigning Pope was John XXIII.
After graduation, we all went
our separate ways. Guillermo Varona ('60), Arturo de Leon,
and I, who were Adjunct Residents at FEUH, joined the Work-A-Year-With-The-People
Medical Missions of then Senator Raul S. Manglapus, Manuel
Quezon, Jr. and Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. Ging was assigned to
Subanipa, Olutanga, Ot went to Kapangan, Benguet Mountain
Province, and I, to Palanan, Isabela.
A day after my second visit
to our home from Palanan, I lost my father to myocardial infraction.
It was September 17, 1962, barely a year and a half after
our graduation. The world crumbled beneath my feet. This was
a turning point in my life. Most, if not all, of the members
of our class must surely have had a milestone which permanently
changed the course of their lives to what it is today.
After some serious deliberations
and consultation with our elders, many of us took the ECFMG
exams and later joined the Exchange Visitors Program, travelling
to the United States for training. Farida and I arrived Chicago
on January 1, 1963 and started our internship at the Ravenswood
Hospital with a salary of $325 a month.
Our Fly-Now-Pay-Later fares
advanced by the hospital were deducted from our salary ($100)
every month. In spite of this, we were still thrilled with
the residual amount (minus income taxes), especially after
multiplying it with 3 to get the peso equivalent. "Mayaman
na tayo," we joked around.
Most of our classmates who
ventured to come to the land of milk and honey, the land of
the brave and of the free were likewise overwhelmed by the
majesty of the land, the bounty and the luxury of the American
people, and their friendliness and outspokenness.
President
John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, gave the people their
own piece of Camelot, a radiant hope and optimism that made
the country strong and proud, here and abroad. When his life
was cut short by sniper bullets in Dallas, Texas, on November
22, 1963, after serving only 2 years and 306 days in office,
the world lost its knight in shining armor.
Other popular personalities
in 1961 included the sex goddess of the silver screen, Marilyn
Monroe, Sophia Loren (Best Actress), Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra
Dee, Maximillan Schell (Best Actor), Frank Sinatra, Peter
Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., Rock Hudson, Troy Donahue, and
Bobby Darin among others. The Best Movie that year was West
Side Story. Three years later, the Beatles invaded America.
Back home the movie screen
luminaries were Gloria Romero, Juancho and Eddie Gutierrez,
Nida Blanca, Nestor de Villa, Susan Roces, Fernando Poe, Jr.,
to mention a few. The child superstar Tessie Agana, known
as Shirley Temple of the Philippines, (now married to Rodolfo
L. Jao, M.D.) and her very famous actress mother, Consuelo
R. Agana (known on the screen as the beautiful Linda Estrella)
immigrated to the United States earlier, accompanied by her
husband, Adriano A. Agana, M.D.
Our
class members pursued their individual residency training,
some in the Philippines and a number here in the United States.
The years that followed were of different challenges. After
our training, we, like other foreign medical graduates, faced
some degree of discrimination by our native medical colleagues
who were U.S. graduates. Competition and economics obviously
had something to do with it. It was well noted that the bedside
manner of the Asian doctors was far superior.
This situation led to the
proliferation of Filipino medical associations in the country.
Almost every state had one. These associations supported and
befriended legislators and lobbied in Congress. The PMA-Chicago
and the PMA-New York, two of the pioneer organizations, had
been lobbying in Washington, D.C. since the mid-1960s.
In the natural course of life,
all of us have discovered new friends along the way in those
three decades since we left FEU. Nonetheless, the longing,
the excitement, and the thirst to see our fellow members of
United Class '61 again and again had never been, nor will
ever be,quenched.
The Association of Philippine
Physicians in America, which would eventually be the umbrella
organization of all Filipino State medical societies, was
founded in 1972. The American College of International Physicians,
which included other ethnic medical graduates and their respective
associations, and the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America
were also organized that same year.
Foremost among the lawmakers
during that period who came to our aid were Rep. Stephen J.
Solarz (New York), Rep. Jim Bates (San Diego), Rep. Adam Benjamin
(Indiana) (deceased) and his successor, Rep. Peter Viclosky,
Senator Paul Simon (Illinois), Senator Daniel Moynihan (New
York), Senator Edward Kennedy (Mass.) among others. The concerted
efforts eventually led to the passage of the anti-discrimination
legislation to protect foreign medical graduates, signed into
law by President George W. Bush in November of 1992.
The first recorded concept
of "an ectopic alumni soclety" in the United States
came from Dr. J.B. Nolasco, M.D., contained in his letter
to me dated May 11, 1965. He has been the main dynamo behind
this movement ever since, until the time he retired in 1979.
With him were Horacio A. Ylagan, M.D. and Sam Green, an insurance
executive in New Jersey. The father of one of the American
students at FEU-IM at the time, Sam visited the school in
the late 1960s and suggested the same idea. The FEUDNR Medical
School Alumni Foundation was eventually organized and incorporated
on October 20, 1971 in New Jersey.
Dr.
Nolasco started communicating with the alumni way back close
to the mid-60s. He subsequently published the Ectopic Murmur,
the official newsletter of the FEU DNR Medical School Alumni
Foundation. While he retired in 1979, he continued to publish
it up to 1985. The bulletin did not come out in 1986. Cesar
M. Reyes ('68), was appointed editor of the Ectopic Murmur
in 1987, a position he still holds.
Ferdinand Marcos, whose second
and final term as president of the Philippines was expiring
in 1973, declared Martial Law on September 22, 1972. The ensuing
13 years of dictatorship ravaged the country's economy and
the people's soul. The country was bankrupt, its national
debt catapulted to 28 billion U.S. dollars. The Philippines
fell several ranks in the Asian economic ladder, down to only
a step above Bangladesh, which was at the bottom.
Former Senator Benigno S.
Aquino, leader of the opposition and arch enemy of Marcos,
was jailed for 8 years, starting September 23, 1972, without
formal charges. In May of 1980, he was freed and allowed to
come to the United States to undergo coronary bypass surgery.
Upon his return to the Philippines on August 21, 1983, he
was felled by an assasin's bullet, silenced forever.
But the silence grew deafening
as days went by. It soon became a gong, then a cymbal, and
utimately an explosive thunder of People Power. Led by Ninoy's
widow, Cory Aquino, and backed by Jaime Cardinal Sin and the
Church, the Filipinos staged a nonviolet civil disobedience.
Pope John Paul II, who was elevated to the position on October
22, 1978, was the Pontiff at the time.
Eventually a bloodless revolution
took place on February 22, 1986, which ousted Marcos and Imelda,
the conjugal dictators, three days later. Not even the political
gurus of the world thought this would be possible. In the
Philippines, miracles do happen.
Appointed by Divine Providence
and annointed by the Church, Cory Aquino was perfect in the
role of transition president for six years from 1986. She
enhanced the national pride and the prestige and the image
of the Filipino people and elevated the Philippines to the
international pedestal. Her People Power, honesty and dignity,
and accomplishments in office shall remain a lasting legacy
for generations of Filipinos to come.
Lilia
P. Luna, an obstetrician-gynecologist and a distinguished
member of United Class '61, was appointed Medical Director
of the FEU DNR Hospital on August 9, 1985 by Dr. Josephine
C. Reyes, Chairman of the Board. She was the first FEU graduate
to be named to that top position. She is, indeed, our pride
and joy.
On
July 27-30, 1986, United Class '61 celebrated its Silver Jubilee
at The Cavalier Oceanfront Hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia,
in conjunction with the 7th Annual Scientific Seminar of the
FEU-DNR School of Medicine Alumni Foundation. Thirty three
jubilarians attended this festive anniversary celebration.
They were: Rogelio Acosta, Lydia Aquino-Mapua, Vicente 0.
Asanza, Rogelio A. Averion, Abraham V. Bacarra, Alberto S.
Barretto, Ellseo M. Bautista, Minerva Bruno-Racela, Moises
L. Buzon, Cesar D. Candari, Amado G. Chanco, Jr., Philip S.
Chua, Rufino F. Crisostomo, Jr.,Graciano B. Dichoso, Remedios
Dionisio, Conrado D.Doce, Rosemary Espino-De Leon, Lionel
D. Foz, Blards Garguena, Farida Isip-Chua, Arturo J. De Leon,
Ernie D. Madarang, Lily Naguit-Sim, Rodoldo M. De Ocera, Zaida
P. Padua-De Ocera, Lilia Pagtakhan-Luna, Gorgonia Peralta-Garguena,
Celia G. Roque, Estelito B. Santos, Prospero M. Sendaydiego,
Abraham Y. Sim, Leticia Subido-Dacanay and Julio D. Teodoro.
It
was a joyous and warm reunion. Memories of the good old schooldays
came reeling back. It was plain fun, laughter, and magic.
In response to Lilia Luna's request, United Class '61 donated
$20,000 to FEUH for the much needed Pulmonary Laboratory for
the FEU Hospital.
Just
before Christmas that year in Manila, the FEU Medical Alumni
held a Grand Ball and Silver Jubilee celebration for United
Class '61 at the Silahis Hotel. Some of the members of our
class who attended the reunion proceeded the following evening
to the residence of Lilia P. Luna at the Loyola Village in
Quezon City for a get together. Among them were Roberto Amador,
Manuel and Pally (Levardo) Catalan, Cesar Candari, Philip
and Farida (Isip) Chua, Gerry Delfin, Shirley (Lintao) Bucag,
Romy and Asuncion Lucas, Bernardo Mora, Jr., Auxilladora Reyes,
Nene (Santos) Deveza, Leticia (Subido) Dacanay and Gloria
(Tirol) Casabal. The whole night we did nothing but ate, reminisced,
and laughed, and ate some more. The ladies giggled to no end.
It was a fantastic evening.
On
August 1, 1987, Emelie Oncapin ('64) a Pathologist at St.
Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, was appointed
Dean of the FEU DNR Medical School, the first FEU graduate
to hold such position. For family reasons, however, Dr. Oncapin
resigned on May 31, 1990 an returned to her former position
at St. Barnabas. Dr. Oncapin resumed her active involvement
in, and became the Executive Director of the FEU DNRMS Alumni
Foundation. Baltazar Solis, M.D. was named Dean to succeed
Dr. Oncapin, but because of his health, he relinquished the
position in 1992. Flordeliza M. Baltazar, M.D., succeeded
him and is the current Dean.
United
States President Ronald Reagan's strong leadership, foresight,
and commitment to his unwavering philosophy of negotiating
from a position of military superiority and strength soon
weakened the resolve of the economically devastated USSR.
Successor George Bush maintained the course, with the equal
determination. The celebrated victory of the Allied Forces
in the Persian Gulf's expeditious Operation Desert Storm against
Iraq's Sadam Hussein showed the world America's leadership
and might.
Soon other countries in Asia
and in Europe would follow the proud example of the Filipino's
strategy of peaceful civil disobedience and bloodless revolution.
With similar People Power, the Berlin Wall was torn down on
November 9, 1989 and the Iron Curtain melted on December 8,
1991. The USSR disappeared from the map of the world soon
thereafter. Communism suffered a big blow.
On September 13, 1993, the
unthinkable happened. PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands
with Israel Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin as the whole world
watched in awe, praying for the peace process in the Middle
East to succeed.
Army
General Fidel V. Ramos, a West Point graduate and a loyal
Aquino protege, succeeded Cory as president of the Republic
of the Philippines on June 30, 1992. The economy, which started
to improve under the Aquino administration, began to climb
new heights. The Philippine stock market flourished and remains
bullish. The PLDT stock which was about $4 a share in mid-1986
shot up to $48 a share two years later. In January of 1994,
it skyrocketed to a high of $86. Even the real estate market
has been quite active lately. I am optimistic and am bullish
on the Philippines.
Our generation, the United
Class '61 here and back home, was a witness to these fateful
and mind-boggling events of the past three decades and a half.
Not only did we watch history in the making, we lived some
of it too. They have influenced our lives, and have enriched
our hearts and minds. They are cherished memories to last
a lifetime, remembrances that will warm us through many winters
of life to come.
What is in store for
us? I do not know. But if I were to surmise what the future
will bring, I would venture to guess that it will be something
wonderful for the whole world, a brilliance for the entire
civilization, a glory for all humankind. And that special
thing is peace upon the earth and goodwill towards all men.
