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In behalf of the Rotary Club of Cebu Port Center, allow me to welcome and thank the 28 members of Rotaplast International's Cebu Medical Mission team who arrived last Wednesday from the United States and Canada to do free reconstructive surgeries for about 100 patients suffering from cleft lips and cleft palates. The team is headed by its mission director, Rotarian Ken Funk, and its medical mission director, Dr. William McClure, a plastic surgeon.
Friday we had our final screening of patients (children and adults) to determine if they are in good health and ready to be operated on. They all qualified for the surgical mission, which started last Saturday and is now on its third day at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Rotaplast has three teams, each composed of a surgeon, an anesthesiologist and nurses, and each team simultaneously conducting surgeries.
The provincial government, led by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, hosted a welcome dinner for the Rotaplast team Saturday at the Capitol Social Hall, where the province was able to show the wealth of the different municipalities under its Suroy Suroy program. Our American and Canadian friends were so impressed with the presentations of dance troupes from five municipalities. Gov. Gwen warmly welcomed the team by expressing her sincerest gratitude to all the members of the team who have been doing free reconstructive surgeries for six years. Rotarian Funk, on the other hand, seemed quite impressed by the governor's projects and her political will to institutionalize political reforms in the province.
The medical mission is so important to those who are suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate, many of whom have been psychologically affected by people's unkind remarks on their appearances. There was a boy who came for the initial screening, his face all covered by his long hair to hide his facial deformity from prying eyes. Apparently that was the only way he could go about his daily chores without ?distracting people's attention.? Parents of children with facial deformities are equally affected by their children's predicament, blaming themselves for their children's ?misfortune.?
The Rotaplast mission gives these children hope to lead normal lives, as many of those who benefited from the mission in the past five years now do. Mission members not only provide free services to their patients but also pay for their own airline tickets and hotel accommodations.
Rotaplast is holding surgeries at VSMMC's old, yet-to-be-renovated Child Survival Center. There is one concern though: in the future there may be a chance that the mission will be left with no other venue because in every mission, Rotaplast is assigned to other rooms for the pre-operation and post-operation procedures. Last year, the mission used the newly renovated Ob-Gyn Building. This time, it's the Child Survival Center, whose walls Rotary Club of Cebu Port Center had to paint to make it presentable. We're afraid the time will come when there will be no more space available for Rotaplast at VSMMC. But we are hoping that its medical director, Dr. Aquino, will still accommodate us. After all, Rotaplast has been donating medical equipment to the hospital.
But we will always find ways to find a venue for the Rotaplast Medical Mission in the future. The Rotary Club of Cebu Port Center can assure the public that the mission will continue with utmost dedication and perseverance.
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The Commission on Audit circular that prohibits any local government unit from extending financial aid to any non-government organization whose officers are related by blood or marriage to local government officials involved in the fund transaction may just open a Pandora's Box. If the circular is strictly implemented, a lot of NGOs will be affected, especially the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, whose members and officers are public officials.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who chairs the Sinulog Foundation, is affected by the new circular and has intimated that, if necessary, he is willing to give up the chairmanship just so the foundation can continue to draw aid from the city government.
I guess this policy was instituted to deter corrupt practices, but there is a need for COA to review its circular. It might wreak havoc on many good and credible NGOs that have submitted its records for evaluation and accountability.
COA may as well take the issue on a case-to-case basis. There should be no sweeping implementation of the circular because it might do more harm than good.
