A Valentine medical mission in Marawi to heal body and spirit

Top, Muslim boy gets medical attention; below, dispensing medicines courtesy of ANCOP USA and other non-profit organizations. Photos by Alma Alvarez

Love was in the air in the ravaged city of Marawi as Muslim family refugees and Christian medical mission volunteers set aside religious differences harmonized by charity and human needs.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, children and adults greeted volunteers of a medical mission and swarmed over boxes of medicines and vitamins, medical and livelihood equipment, clothes, food and rice. They were being unloaded in Sarimanok and Bagong Pag-asa tent cities, as well as in Sagonsongan where clusters of residential homes and amenities were being built by government and private sectors.

The two-day medical and relief mission was coordinated by ANCOP (Answering the Cry of the Poor) USA, Foundation of Couples for Christ (CFC), the Local Government Units, the Department of Health of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Angat Buhay flagship program of Vice President Leni Robredo.

The humanitarian mission started on February 14 with a Holy Mass and commencement blessings for mission volunteers presided by Father Nono Reteracion at the Redemptorist Our Lady Perpetual Help Church in Iligan City.

Children enjoyed incentives of candies that warded off fears of vaccinations, even as the Dengvaxia scare still lingered among Muslim residents. Children were also given toothbrushes and toothpastes and reminded to brush after eating. Patients received brown bag lunches and snacks as they waited for medical and dental services watching their brethren nurses dip into pre-shipped stacks of medicines donated by ANCOP USA. There were local physicians hovering, answering residents’ questions about their health concerns.

Marawi: A ghost town after the bombings.

Blood pressure and sugar levels were measured while some patients acquired free reading glasses. Seminars and meetings progressed at nearby Harmony Learning Center and DOH Health Center. Young environmentalists reciprocated generosity and charity and volunteered to pick up trash and dumping them in large collection bags.

Soldiers from a local unit of the Philippine Army, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jamaloding R. Polog, Commander of Joint Task Group Tabang, were strategically deployed to preempt any possible disruption to the humanitarian effort.

The multitudes never heard any political speeches, only intermittent instructions to remain orderly as the medical operations progressed. Muslim residents were respectful of the Catholic Mass being held at the Sagonsongan basketball court presided by Bishop Edwin dela Pena of the Prelature of Marawi. The Christian missionaries displayed mutual reverence of the Friday Muslim noon prayers by halting all operations at Sagonsongan. Instead, the teams motored to Sarimanok and Bagong Pag-asa to turn over to Muslim camp managers volumes of medicines, vitamins and 5,000 kilos of rice packed at 10 kilos per family.

ANCOP USA President Roger Santos of New Jersey said about 2,000 residents of the three Marawi areas displaced by hostilities were served during the medical and relief mission.

“The Marawi crisis was a five-month-long armed conflict that started on May 23, 2017, between government security forces and militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), including the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups,” he said. “In support for the victims of the siege, ANCOP USA launched a medical/dental and relief operations composed of 40 volunteers from Couples for Christ USA together with our donors and partners.”

Vice President Leni Robredo commended the ANCOP USA and local volunteers. She hosted a send-off luncheon on February 12 at her New Manila office in appreciation of past, present and future “poverty alleviation cooperation” between Angat Buhay and ANCOP USA.

As part of the mission, Lt. Col. Polog paved the way for a quick visit of Marawi’s version of Ground Zero. Grim images of extensive devastation galvanized the volunteers’ resolve to serve the refugees. At the end of the mission, fatigued volunteers were treated to a tour of Lanao highlighted by a majestic view of the Maria Cristina Falls, with a briefing from Plant Manager Romeo Encabo. The volunteers went on a pilgrimage to the Divine Mercy Shrine at the end of the mission that inspired hope and healing among the people of Marawi.

© The FilAm 2019

ANCOP USA President Roger Santos and wife Josie Santos (in black clothing) check high-speed sewing machines donated for the refugees’ livelihood.