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By Perry Gil S. Mallari
With glee, Rosendo A. Subido Jr. greets the girl
who emerges from the operating room, “Aba, maganda na ang batang
ito [Hey, this girl now looks pretty]!” The lass, who just went
through a cleft lip operation has a patch of gauze obscuring her
lips, but her eyes give out a sincere smile that seems to
acknowledge the doctor’s remark. On her side is Dr. Marcelino
Reysio-Cruz Jr., the surgeon who performed the operation. Such event
has been a recurring scenario for the two men for the past 17 years.
Subido, known to his friends as Joe, is a
philanthropist who finances the surgery of indigent children
afflicted with cleft lip and cleft palate disorders. He
lightheartedly introduces Cruz as his ‘partner in crime.’ “I
shoulder the cost of the patient’s medication while he performs
the operation for free,” he explains. The two men, who have been
toiling in anonymity on the project for nearly two decades, disclose
their motivations in pursuing such a noble cause. “It’s a
promise I made to God after he saved my life,” relates Subido,
adding, “I was once terminally ill and was given only six months
to live.”
The soft-spoken Cruz points out that conducting
free operations on poor patients is like hitting two birds with one
stone. “Though I have been in the medical profession for long, I
am still discovering new things and this kind of activity makes my
skills sharp, besides, I really love helping people in need,” he
intones.
“Benevolence runs in the veins of the veteran
physician,” volunteers Subido; revealing that his friend used to
partner with Rosa Rosal in the popular charity TV program Damayan,
“For 30 years nag-oopera ‘yan ng libre sa mahihirap [He’s
doing free operations on poor patients for 30 years now], that’s
how kind this person is.”
But formal recognition for their noble deeds
proves evasive for the two men. “We were once nominated for a
Gawad Award but for some reason we didn’t win,” relates Cruz,
adding, “But whether we win any award or not, we will continue
doing this thing for as long as we can.” Appreciation for their
charitable acts though sometimes comes in a more sublime manner.
“There’s this one instance wherein I was in a recovery room of a
hospital after I went through a coronary bypass operation,” Cruz
recalls, continuing, “One nurse approached me and thanked me. She
said I operated on her a long time ago. She’s so grateful and
happily shared that that she’s living for the United States to
start a new life—a better one.”
Subido, who’s based in the United States for
26 years now and just visits the country annually, still vividly
recalls his first meeting with Cruz during the early 90s. “My good
friend Meynard Halili invited me for dinner on his birthday and it
was there that I met Dr. Cruz,” he narrates. Halili, aware of the
common philanthropic thread in Subido and Cruz introduced them to
each other. Subido still remembers the words of his friend after the
introductory handshake, “Ikaw pala ‘yung tumutulong sa mahihirap
[So, you’re the one I’m told who’s keen on helping the
poor].” Looking back at that first encounter, Subido says that he
believes that it was God who sent Cruz his way. Shortly thereafter,
the two forged a partnership to help children with cleft lip and
cleft palate disorders. To date, the duo has already helped 176
indigent patients.
Explaining the nature of cleft lip and cleft
palate disorder, Cruz explains that it is a multifactor medical
condition with genetics often playing a major role. The good old
doctor also opines that the term ‘hare lip,’ which also pertains
to the same disorder, is derogatory. “I don’t think it’s a
proper word to use because it refers to an animal,” he points out.
Cruz says that ideally, the condition must be treated as early as
possible, shortly after birth is ideal, though this will mean higher
medical expenses. “The good thing about early operation is that it
will allow the teeth to grow in correct alignment and make the baby
suckle milk better,” he says. He adds that operation performed on
infants cost higher because it will require general anesthesia while
those done on grown ups could be accomplished by administering only
local anesthetic. Cruz discloses that the former procedure costs
around P50,000 while the latter falls roughly at P10,000.
Though Subido said that the philanthropic deeds
he is doing now is his way of thanking God for saving his life from
a deadly disease, he also reveals that that the heart to help the
poor is something he inherited from his father. “There’s a verse
in the Bible where Jesus said ‘If you want to enter into my
kingdom, get rid of your earthly possession and give it to the
poor.’ You know, my Dad take that to heart and followed it
literally,” he narrates. Subido says that his wealthy father, who
had a lucrative real estate practice didn’t mind giving wads of
money to needy strangers on the streets everyday. His mother
eventually became concerned of this act of over-generosity and
vocally disapproved this random act of kindness. “So what my
father did was divide our property and gave the bigger part to my
mother. Whatever possessions left of him, including several houses
and cars, he continued to give away to the needy,” he adds. Subido
proudly states that his father helped more than 100 families survive
the Second World War.
The older Subido, though basking in the bliss of
spirituality, died a destitute man. “Nang mamatay ang tatay ko ang
suot lang ay t-shirt, isang pantalon at tsinelas [When my father
died all he’s wearing is a tshirt, a pair of pants and a pair of
flip flops],” Subido relates, a tinge of sadness evident in his
eyes. In honor of his father, the philanthropist has put up a
foundation, “I named it ROSS (an acronym for Rosendo O. Subido
Sr.) Foundation for the Poor, in memory of my late father.”
Subido is now threading on a similar path. A
retired university professor, he gets the funds to support his
advocacy from his income as a tennis trainor in the US. “I
maintain a separate bank account for that,” he says, flashing a
boyish smile.
Still displaying a robust physique, it is
interesting to learn that tennis wasn’t Subido’s original sport.
“I belong to the original UE Warriors, the first basketball team
that the legendary coach Baby Dalupan propelled to fame in the
University of the East in 1956,” he states with pride. He earned a
reputation as a “wicked” shooter in the Philippine basketball
circle at that time and he almost opted to play professionally had
not a twist of events led him to a career in the academe.
Subido taught for 19 years at UE and had
ascended as head of the university’s marketing department before
he migrated to the US in 1982. When asked if they would welcome
financial help from outsiders, Subido and Cruz both reply with a
resounding “Yes!” Commenting further on the issue, Subido says,
“Mas marami kaming matutulungan [We would be able to help a lot
more people].” The duo also aims to formally name their endeavor
Project: Better Life. “It’s more appropriate because we intend
not just to provide medical services but we also aim for the
betterment of an individual as a whole,” explains Subido.
His deep spirituality manifesting itself so
naturally and effortlessly, Subido shares another anecdote about his
late father. “During the wake of my Dad, many of his friends were
surprised to found me at peace,” he pauses momentarily, then
continues, “I told them I was happy because I know that my father
is in heaven because he did what God has commanded: to love the
poor.” He recalls that a lot of his father’s friends were there,
men who have become rich because of the older Subido’s help.
“My Dad was known as ‘the man with the
golden finger’ in the real estate business at that time, because
he has this uncanny sense of knowing which property will make
millions and his colleagues benefited a lot from that wisdom and
foresight,” Subido narrates. The men in dapper suits poured out
their accolades on how his father has helped so many people. Subido,
believing that his father had sowed inspiration among his father’s
pals, asked, “Don’t you want to do the same?” The youngster
got nothing but a resounding silence as answer.
Subido and Cruz are indeed taking a road less
traveled. Recognition may be elusive for these two intrepid souls,
but seeing things through a divine perspective, everything they have
done will surely be rewarded, whether in this life or beyond.
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