Boys will be boys, or so the adage goes. And so, children will be children as well.
Simple needs, simple joys. A light gesture or a gentle loving touch is enough to bring out smiles on their faces.
But not all children have that luxury. Many experience insecurity and feelings of being ostracized because of genetic anomalies.
So when the Craniofacial Foundation of the Philippines Inc. with the Smile Train and the Rotary Club of Cebu-Fuente (RCCF) presented the Oplan Pahiyom surgical project to Provincial Board Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez who in turn presented it to Gov. Hilario Davide III, the project was immediately approved.
The operations were held at the Dr. Jose Ma. V. Borromeo Memorial Hospital in Pinamungajan town.
Around 60 children from marginalized families in Pinamungajan, Asturias, Toledo City and other local government units in the third district who passed the medical screening availed of the free surgical mission.
Oplan Pahiyom gave the rare opportunity to children with cleft lips and deformed palates to be operated on free of charge.
The Province provided the hospital facilities, transportation and food.
Last Mar. 26-28, Manila-based surgeons linked with the Craniofacial Foundation of the Phils. Inc. volunteered to come to Cebu to perform the operations pro bono and even paid for the freight of the equipment they brought along.
RCCF member Dr. Alain Señerpida, a plastic surgeon from Cebu, supported the Manila-based surgeons.
Erwin Buhawi, a cons-truction worker and father of three-year-old Earlrheven who has a cleft lip, was very grateful for the project as he admitted that it is impossible for the family to have his son operated on.
Crispin Dayday, grandfather and guardian of four-year-old Alexander Tresuento who was born with a cleft lip, echoed Buhawi’s sentiment.
Other children who qualified for the operation were 12-year-old Benedicto Villalon, seven-year-old Gemarie, 11-year-old Rheamae Undang, three-year-old Angel May Ricablanca and six-year-old Diego Segilla, to name a few of the project’s beneficiaries.
Maricel Caballero, grandmother-guardian of seven-year-old Kenjie Caballero, said that the medical team who conducted the screening told her that her grandson needed to be operated on in a hospital with an intensive care unit as the kid needed a breathing apparatus during the operation since his case of cleft palate was complicated. She was assured of assistance by the surgical mission organizers.
The other parent-guardians of the beneficiaries also expressed their delight and gratefulness for the program that came their way.
Jose Alfonso Abad, RCCF outgoing president, said that Oplan Pahiyom is the first such project of the RCCF and they plan to make it an annual event in other parts of the province.