by jariusbondoc | Oct 2, 2026 | Gotcha
VP Sara Duterte called her impeachment trial a “sarswela” where proof of her hidden wealth mounted.
House prosecutors rebuked her for her second belittling of the Senate impeachment court. “Sarswela” is Filipino for the zarzuela Saramusical theater of the late 1800s to early 1900s. It’s also metaphor for “theatrics, histrionics.”
The past two weeks’ hearings focused on Sara’s yearly statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, 2007-2025. Those covered her terms as Davao city vice mayor, mayor and VP.
Sara’s SALNs list 18 businesses that she and/or her spouse Manases Carpio incorporated in those years. Senator-judges and congressman-prosecutors noted three possible constitutional and legal breaches:
• Article VII, Executive Department, Section 13 bans the President, VP, Cabinet secretaries, Usecs, Asecs from “holding any other employment … participate in any business or be financially interested in any contract with the government.”
VP Sara was an active board director and even compensation committee member in some of the companies. Those were in General Information Sheets and Audited Financial Statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“She did not divest from private business when she became VP in 2022,” said prosecution spokesman Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong.
• Sara’s net worth ballooned 1,280 percent. The P7,150,497 in 2007 rose to P98,656,131.20 in 2025.
This couldn’t have been from business income. The companies’ GIS and AFS submissions showed either meager annual income or losses.
Perusing the documents, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian noted that the firms did not pay out cash, stock or property dividends. “Hindi pwedeng manggaling sa mga corporations niya ‘yong paglaki ng kanyang net worth. By process of elimination, pwede na nating i-rule out ‘yong corporations,” he said.
Coming hearings will bare Sara’s P4.4-billion bank deposits. The Anti-Money Laundering Council presented those in March to the House committee on justice.
• In her SALNs as VP in 2022 to 2025, Sara claimed to be stockholder of GenCorp Industries Inc. But the firms’ SEC records do not mention her. Listed instead as 55 percent owner is JTC Group.
Senator-judge Erwin Tulfo elicited info that JTC stands for Jaime Tan Cruz, Davao city doctor-businessman. Cruz was special envoy to China of Sara’s father ex-president Rody Duterte.
JTC Group bagged 15 contracts worth P14.32 million from Davao City Hall, Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System records.
Sara’s brother Mayor Sebastian Duterte corrected the figures in his Facebook page and testimony: JTC Group got 19 contracts worth P33,263,161 since he became mayor in 2022.
Sebastian disavowed knowledge of Sara’s interest in GenCorp. He doesn’t pry into her private activities, he said.
He found nothing wrong with GenCorp’s frequent bagging of city hall contracts. He admitted being partner of Jaime Tan Cruz in three businesses, and his brother Rep. Paolo Duterte in one of those.
Sara’s declared ownership of contractor GenCorp is self-incriminatory, said trial lawyer Howard Calleja. The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Section 3, prohibits public officers from:
“(h) Directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest;
“(i) Directly or indirectly becoming interested, for personal gain, or having a material interest in any transaction or act requiring the approval of a board, panel or group of which he is a member, and which exercises discretion in such approval, even if he votes against the same or does not participate in the action of the board, committee, panel or group.”
In a Sept. 25 press interview, Sara was asked about attending the hearings. “Anong ibig-sabihin Ma’am, manood ako doon sa kanilang sarswela?” she retorted, adding that her lawyers’ attendance signifies her presence in the legal proceedings.
Sara’s “sarswela” remark is contemptuous, said House prosecution private spokesman Benjamin Tolosa Jr.: “Hindi lang ito violation ng sub judice rule. These statements are inflammatory and attack the integrity of the court.”
Prosecution adviser ex-congressman Ace Barbers said Sara’s statement “should not be allowed to pass without scrutiny, particularly since she had previously questioned the proceedings.”
On Sept. 7, the Office of the Vice President posted on Facebook Sara’s video message. She said, among others: “Hawak man ni Marcos ang mga senador, piskal, huwes at mga pulis, napakaraming abogado naman ang tumutulong sa akin upang ipaglaban at mapanalo ang mga kasong ito.”
That day’s hearing exposed the fake identities of payees of P612.5-million confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd.
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by jariusbondoc | Sep 30, 2026 | Gotcha
Corruption starts at the barangay level. Examples:
• Barangay officials extort P200,000 per telco cell site permit. The three telcos told then-president Duterte in July 2020 about the racket. That “fee” could be higher in a crookeder admin.
One exposé was in San Fernando, Pampanga. A barangay chairman told two supervisors of a telco that bribe was normal. In fact, their competitor paid up just months before. The money was purportedly for barangay projects and to blunt opposition to the cell site.
Telcos are under government pressure to erect 60,000 more cell towers than the present 30,000. The P12 billion they must pay barangay councils under the table constrains them.
Net effect: 118 million Filipinos suffer poor telecom signal.
• Barangay councilmen pocket “ayuda” allocations. Most prevalent are in health benefits, Christmas and birthday gifts to the elderly, even disaster emergency relief.
DILG cited a barangay in San Jacinto, Pangasinan. Every household was supposed to receive P5,500 social amelioration. But only half, P2,750, was given to each. Councilmen forced each family head to sign receipt of the whole P5,500.
Instead of 1,000 households receiving P5,500,000, only P2,750,000 was released. Officials stole the P2,750,000 remainder.
The racket was widespread. DILG sued 301 barangay men in Ilocos region-wide.
Petty thievery also occurs in gifts for seniors and disaster victims. Withheld from each bag of goodies, for instance, is a pack of spaghetti noodles or a can of corned beef that recipients signed for. When added up, the loot runs to millions of pesos.
• Village officials also filch benefits from city or municipal halls. One scheme was discovered last month in a barangay in Sta. Ana, Manila. Ten residents who died as far back as 2000 were still “collecting” and “signing for” P500 monthly aid for seniors. Total take was P5,000 a month or P60,000 a year.
City hall received a complaint about two long-dead brothers-in-law. The senior sister of one noticed in the ledger supposed up-to-date payments to the deceased brother. The senior daughter of the other noticed the same.
The barangay chairwoman begged in vain for the two to not complain to city hall. The two could not believe that their chairwoman, who they thought was their friend, could cheat the government using their deceased kin.
That’s the malady of barangay residents. They trust the officials in their 42,010 barangays and 41,995 Sangguniang Kabataan. The dishonest take advantage of such trust – or helplessness – to enrich themselves.
Not all barangay/SK officials are crooked. Yet there are no statistics for saints and sinners. Residents only assume that their smiling neighbor who sits in the council is doing everything for their good.
At the start of Duterte’s admin, 35,356 or 84 percent of barangays were classified as “drug-affected.” Either the officials couldn’t combat or were in cahoots with narco-traffickers. By the end of his term, approximately 10,000 were still drug-infested.
Barangay/SK elections (BSKE) must push through on Nov. 2. Good officials need to be given fresh mandate, bad ones removed and termed-out ones retired.
Congress and Malacañang conspired, however, to thwart the people’s right to vote and be voted upon. Last Friday they postponed the BSKE to three long years. They deprived Filipinos suffrage in their basic communities.
BSKE should’ve been held as far back as December 2025. On pretext of “fixing the term” of barangay/SK officials to four years instead of the old three, Congress and Malacañang rescheduled it to November 2026. Last Friday, on new pretext of “setting the term” to five years, they again delayed BSKE to November 2028.
They contrived shallow reasons for this latest postponement. One was that there’s an “oil crisis due to international war.” Yet the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao held parliamentary balloting only last Sept. 14.
Another alibi was that Election Day, the first Monday of November 2026, was to fall on the 2nd, All Souls’ Day, when Filipinos traditionally trek to the provinces to visit the graves of their dearly departed. Election turnout might be dismal. Then again, why didn’t any of 318 congressmen and 24 senators and dozens of President’s men, point up the discrepancy?
The real reason is dynastic politics. Dynasts in Congress want to make barangay/SK officials beholden to them by prolonging their terms till November 2028. That way, quid pro quo, extendees will campaign for the dynasts in the May 2028 presidential-congressional-local balloting.
Eighty-one percent of the House of Reps and 83 percent of the Senate are dynasts. On Sept. 8, 211 of 225 congressmen present voted for BSKE delay. On Sept. 14, 13 of 18 senators present did the same. Three of the five Senate dissenters are among the only four who are not dynasts.
Although the SK law forbids politicians’ relatives up to the second degree, barangays are heavily infiltrated by dynasts.
Four election lawyers led by veteran Romy Macalintal are petitioning the Supreme Court to declare the BSKE postponement as unconstitutional. Congress abused its power to decide on barangay tenures, and the President to enforce it.
Only last Aug. 26, 15 SC justices unanimously ruled against any more political dynasties. One hundred fifty years of dynastic reign since the Spanish regime, 39 years under the 1987 Constitution, should be enough. BSKE should be rid of dynastic manipulation.
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by jariusbondoc | Sep 25, 2026 | Gotcha
Veto the postponement of barangay elections. That will spare Bongbong Marcos from presidential embarrassment.
Forty-two-year-long election lawyer Romy Macalintal wrote BBM twice to uphold suffrage. Frequent arbitrary resetting of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) violates the right to vote and be voted upon.
If granted Malacañang audience, Macalintal will explain to BBM the frivolities of the postponement bill:
• The October 2022 BSKE was delayed by a year to October 2023. Still, the Supreme Court ruled that 2023 electees would have served the old three-year term by October 2025.
• Congress then “set the term” to four years, delaying the October 2025 election to November 2026.
• Now Congress wants to “fix the term” to five years, so is again postponing the November 2026 election to Nov. 2028.
• During the Sept. 9 Senate plenary deliberation, Joel Villanueva asked why they said that a four-year term was sufficient but they now want five years. Sponsor Chiz Escudero replied: “Wala pong partikular na pag-aaral sa nagdaang batas na pinasa natin, partikular sa four-year term.”
• Escudero added: “Mula nang tumayo ako para depensahan, i-sponsor ang panukalang ito, wala akong pinapangakong ito na ang huling [postponement].”
• During the Sept. 1 House deliberation, Tony Tinio asked why they are extending the terms to five years right after extending it to four. Sponsor Henry Oaminal replied, “Laws are continuously evolving and we here in Congress continue to do our work, part of which is to consult different stakeholders.”
• Oaminal added: “Since the law was passed, several stakeholders, including grassroots leaders such as barangay and SK officials, expressed to us that a four-year term would be insufficient.” Tinio retorted: “E natural, sino mang elective official kapag tinanong mo, ‘Okay ba kayo i-extend ang term natin?’ Siyempre sasabihin nila, yes.”
• Oaminal stammered that during committee hearings, Comelec officials endorsed the postponement to November 2028 because of “oil crisis and international wars.” Yet all this time, Comelec Chairman George Garcia has been announcing readiness: ballots are printed, and P8 billion has been spent.
• Another Congress alibi to scrap the Nov. 2026 election is that it falls on the 2nd, All Souls Day, when Filipinos traditionally visit their dearly departed at cemeteries. Yet it was Congress that set it for the first Monday of November this year.
• Legislators need barangay/SK officials to campaign for them in the May 2028 congressional-local elections. That’s why they’re extending BSKE to November 2028. Quid pro quo. But the nonpartisan rule for BSKE will be violated.
Legislators couldn’t distinguish “tenure” from “term,” Macalintal alerted BBM: “I am certain you would not want the Office of the President to give legal life to an erroneous law that is patently unconstitutional, vague, defective, and violative of the right of suffrage. Your veto will save the administration from such legislative missteps.”
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The last time government allowed bus and jeepney fare increases was June 2005. Diesel price spiked at that time to P45 per liter. Salaries of bus and jeepney drivers and conductors, and prices of spare parts were much lower then.
Today, 21 years later, diesel rates are more than double at P105 per liter. Wages have increased several times in all regions; it rose another P60 a day just this month in Metro Manila. Inflation has tripled the price of spare parts.
Jeepney drivers and cooperatives are griping. Earnings from a whole day’s “pasada” goes to fuel alone. Nothing left to take home. They can no longer amortize the “modern jeepneys” that government forced them to purchase in lieu of the dirty, noisy traditional ones that ran on reconditioned engines.
Banks that lent money for modern jeepney purchases – especially government-owned DBP and Landbank – are in danger. They will be forced to repossess units that jeepney men can no longer pay for. Those repossessed units will rot from unuse. Nobody will ply routes. Commuters will suffer.
Bus operators are also groaning. To save on fuel, payroll, and spare parts, they alternately field buses only every other day. Micro and small entrepreneurs are most inconvenienced. They cannot simply switch to motorcycles due to rutty and flooded roads.
“Fare hikes are a last resort,” Transport officials said on Tuesday. Yet they have no more funds to subsidize bus and jeepney fuel.
It’s just a matter of time. When fares are hiked, all else will follow: food, water, medicines, clothing, toiletries, school and office supplies, rent, kitchenware, hardware.
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by jariusbondoc | Sep 23, 2026 | Gotcha
A hundred political dynasties have ruled for a century. They won’t readily give up lucrative family business.
Of 254 district congressmen, 205 or 81 percent are dynasts. They’ve infiltrated partylists for the marginalized; 32 of 61 partylist reps come from dynasties.
Three congressmen are close kin of the Vice President, who has three more relatives in local office.
The House Speaker has 15 relatives in Congress and Isabela local positions, and two Executive posts. The Majority Leader is the son of the President, who has a senator-sister, three more close kin in the House, and seven others in Ilocos and Leyte local posts.
Among 24 senators are four pairs of siblings. They and six more senators have congressman-spouses, offspring, siblings, or cousins. Five have offspring or siblings in local elective or national appointive posts. One packed his staff with ten relatives. Only four have no kin in government. Eighty-three percent of senators are dynasts.
Dynastic privilege is most visible in pork barrels, which the Supreme Court outlawed in 2013:
• Rep. Paolo Duterte got P51.8 billion in the last three years of father President Rody Duterte’s term, 2020-2022. His Davao City district was the “epicenter of flood control corruption”, the Ombudsman said.
• Ex-Speaker Martin Romualdez got P57.5 billion in the first three years of cousin President Bongbong Marcos’ term, 2023-2025. He masterminded the flood work scam, the Ombudsman added.
• BBM’s son Majority Leader Sandro Marcos got P39.2 billion, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported.
• Speaker Faustino Dy III got P3.8 billion in 2026, more than thrice the P1 billion originally slated for Isabela’s 6th district, PCIJ said. In 2023-2025 then-6th district Rep. Faustino Dy V got P10.7 billion, while 5th district Rep. Faustino Michael Carlos Dy III got P10.5 billion.
• Ex-DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan told the Sandiganbayan that he granted P500 million “leadership fund” per senator per year in the 19th Congress, 2022-2025. Senators availed of P13.29 billion in 2024 and P21 billion in 2025; Bong Revilla got P150 million as public works committee chairman.
For 39 years now, Congress hasn’t enacted a law against dynasties. “Grave abuse of discretion,” fifteen SC justices unanimously ruled Aug. 26.
The 1987 Constitution requires in Article II, State Principles, Section 26: “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”
The SC listed four “relevant considerations” for prohibition, culled from scholarly research:
(1) Up to fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity, including half-blood, adoptive, step, legitimate or illegitimate, and common-law relationships;
(2) Simultaneous and successive offices;
(3) National and local positions including barangays;
(4) Not only within the same province but by region.
The Dy-Marcos bill that the House passed in June is a farce:
• It forbids simultaneous positions only up to the second degree, and allows uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, and in-laws.
• It allows political succession by spouses, offspring, parents, siblings, and in-laws, thus skirting term limits so clans can monopolize specific government seats.
• It treats the President, VP, and Senate as national, but the House as local although part of Congress, thus expanding dynasties there. It forbids relatives from running within the same legislative district, yet allows them in different localities or separate government branches.
• It excludes partylists from coverage. During plenary debates, amendments to ban partylist dynasties were rejected, thus creating a backdoor for dynastic expansion.
• It omits appointive positions and deals only with elective ones. It perpetuates the practice of politicos securing influential unelected appointive government positions for family members, further cementing clan grip on state resources and institutional power.
Dy and Marcos said they tailored the bill for supermajority dynasts, or else there won’t be a bill at all. What 267 of 318 or 83.9 percent of congressmen approved was a bill that would perpetuate dynasties.
Congress shouldn’t be let to satisfy the SC ruling with a watered-down measure, said Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan, led by retired generals and colonels:
“A law that merely regulates dynasties, allows relatives to alternate in office, or legitimizes a family’s continued control of government positions would betray the Constitution’s true intention. Such a measure could strengthen political dynasties instead of dismantling them.”
Seventy percent of Filipinos want dynasties banned, Pulse Asia polled in March. Dynasts stunt economic growth, control local businesses, and withhold permits from rivals. Even scholarships and healthcare depend on dynasts’ endorsement, lamented Atty. Eirene Aguila of Dapat Isa Lang: “They keep people poor and reliant on dole outs.”
The People’s Initiative must gather ten million voters’ signatures – three percent per legislative district and 12 percent nationwide. Comelec, chaired by BBM’s former election lawyer, must validate the signatures. Dynastic Congress must allot billions for a ratificatory plebiscite.
Dynasts can employ guns, goons, and gold to sabotage the process.
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by jariusbondoc | Sep 18, 2026 | Gotcha
It’s an open secret that our youths learn corruption at the Sangguniang Kabataan. That’s because of the bad influence of elders in barangay councils.
Here’s the modus operandi:
There’s a “kontratista” at the barangay council. He is usually a friend of the chairman and council members. They let him handle all purchases and expenditures. These range from multimillion-peso construction of barangay halls or acquisition of service vehicles, all the way to the smallest birthday gift to senior citizens and snacks during council meetings.
The kontratista overprices the expenditures and purchases by 30 to 300 percent, or even more. He splits the loot with the chairman, the barangay treasurer, and councilmen. Everybody happy, everybody quiet.
Kickbacks per year can total hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of pesos. That’s why aspirants for chairman, treasurer, councilman kill for the post.
A spouse, offspring, or councilman usually succeeds the termed-out chairman. The kontratista stays.
The Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson automatically sits in the barangay council as ex-officio member. S/he also automatically partakes off the kickbacks.
The SK has its own project expenditures and purchases. These two are done through the kontratista. Again, these are overpriced 30 to 300 percent, or more. The SK chairperson, treasurer, and youth kagawad share the loot.
It’s easy to spot the kontratista. S/he’s the one who wears too much jewelry. The crook invariably flaunts the fruits of her/his corruption. S/he also hovers around meetings and huddles at barangay halls, eavesdropping for new potential deals.
The Dept. of Interior and Local Government oversees the 42,010 barangay and 41,995 SK councils. Sec. Jonvic Remulla reportedly strives to clean up local government units.
Meanwhile the Ombudsman has power to discipline crooked barangay and SK officials. “I can dismiss those who do not do their jobs,” Sec. Jonvic’s brother Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla told the Senate finance committee on Sept. 3. “All we need is a substantiated complaint, a complaint that people will stand up to, will try to prove to us that we can utilize this power given to us by the law.”
May the Remulla brothers clean up sleazy barangay councils and SKs. DILG can construct more provincial, city, and municipal jails to lock up barangay and SK crooks. Multiply Ombudsman personnel to handle complaints against barangay and SK councils.
Congress should not postpone barangay and SK elections. It should instead enact laws for more transparency with barangay and SK funds, stronger people’s audits, and stricter performance rules for grassroots officials.
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Stop China’s continual bullying of the Asian Games. In 20th ASIAD, Sept. 19 – Oct. 4, let Taiwan compete as Taiwan.
At today’s opening ceremonies in Nagoya, China will again compel organizers to make Taiwan athletes wear uniforms of Chinese Taipei. This demeans not only Taiwan’s sportsmen and women, but also countries that allow bullying even in sports.
“This indignity has gone on long enough,” international relations specialist Lindell Lucy writes in Japan Times. “Before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, more than 131,000 people signed online petitions calling on the International Olympic Committee to allow Taiwan to compete as ‘Taiwan’ rather than ‘Chinese Taipei.’
“Although Taiwanese athletes were ultimately required to attend the Opening Ceremony wearing Chinese Taipei uniforms, Japanese TV announcers, who were not bound by IOC rules, introduced the athletes as representing Taiwan. The incident sparked a massive outpouring of appreciation across Taiwan.”
Filipino sports editors, writers, and commentators can do the same in ASIAD. Taiwan, not Chinese Taipei, is the Philippines’ closest northern neighbor. The Philippine island of Y’Ami (Mavulis) is only 98 kilometers from the nearest Taiwanese territory, Orchid Island.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Taiwan’s men’s badminton doubles team won its second consecutive gold medal, defeating China for the championship, Lucy recalls. “Unfortunately, the victory was overshadowed by a heavy-handed crackdown on fans holding towels and signs bearing the word ‘Taiwan.’
“Images and video of Olympic security staff confiscating the items, as well as one Chinese spectator forcibly snatching a sign from the hands of a Taiwanese fan, went viral around the world, prompting Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a statement condemning the incidents.”
There’s no such thing as Chinese Taipei. Taiwan consists of 14 counties and 23 cities, with Taipei the capital.
Taiwan is independent and democratic. It has an elected President and Parliament. Its navy and coastguard patrol its waters against Chinese intruders.
China Communist Party has never controlled Taiwan. Yet it flexes economic and military muscle to make Asian neighbors treat Taiwan as a CCP domain.
CCP propagandizes to take over Taiwan by 2027. It also claims to own Okinawa.
The Philippines is also a victim of CCP expansionism. CCP’s navy, coastguard, and maritime militia vessels menace Batanes, Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, Kalayaan (Spratly) Islands, and Palawan’s Recto (Reed) Bank.
CCP likewise trespasses waters of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
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by jariusbondoc | Sep 16, 2026 | Gotcha
Once again I give space to these reports by Jamaica Mae Digo of Tzu Chi Eye Clinic:
Weeks ago medical director Dr. Bernardita Navarro received 20 persons deprived of liberty for consultations and performed cataract surgery on seven more. They came from the maximum-, medium- and minimum-security compounds of New Bilibid Prison, Muntinlupa. The Bureau of Corrections brought them to the Eye Center in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
PDLs who used to be cataract-blind returned for post-operative checkups. Unlike before, they now walked on their own and assisted fellow inmates who struggled visually.
PDL Lito, 61, served as eyes for Donnie, 51. Lito underwent surgery last year. Restored vision reinforced his commitment to his mission inside prison: teaching PDLs to read and write. “Immense gratitude to you for changing my life,” he smiled. “Now that I can see well, I’m able to read and gain more knowledge to share with students.”
Tzu Chi volunteer optometrist Dr. Adriene Lim prescribed Lito eyeglasses for further improvement. Donnie underwent operation. Eyesight restored, he cried for joy. “I’ve struggled for three years. Those were difficult times. That’s why I’m so happy that I can see again.”
Donnie once lived comfortably, managing his family’s hotel. One bad decision led to his greatest regret. At 30 he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping. Good conduct and rehab participation reduced his term.
Fate continued to challenge Donnie. Blinding cataracts developed in both eyes. His family had emigrated years back, leaving him with no one to ask for help. Just as he was losing hope to turn over a new leaf, BuCor and Tzu Chi’s surgical partnership came like answered prayer.
Donnie can now look forward to his future with hopeful eyes. “I’ve lost my youth, I want to walk the straight path and hopefully start a family of my own. I will forever be indebted to Tzu Chi for helping us.”
The eye center’s optometry team flew to Tagbilaran to support the local Tzu Chi office’s mission at Bohol jail. Lugging their own equipment and supplies, Dr. Adriene’s eight-member team provided refraction tests and dispensed eye drops and reading glasses to 540 male and female PDLs and jail guards. They committed to provide lenses for those who didn’t get such necessity on the spot.
The mission was special for Dr. Adriene. “We don’t often have the opportunity to reach these people, so when told of this project, I joined to give them the best we can offer. Give them the comfort of vision. It’s the only thing they now have to improve themselves and their skills.”
PDL Allan learned to paint when imprisoned four years ago. His vibrant pictures are a source of joy and income to support his wife and child. Poor vision threatened to take away his chance to make it up to his family. It turned out that all he needed were reading glasses.
PDL Theo, 48, finds comfort in the Bible since imprisonment two years back. Failing vision impairs his reading. The glasses he received brought him huge relief and spiritual peace. “Faith matters more to us while we’re here. It helps keep us positive and learn from our mistakes. I’m grateful that you visited today and shared your kindness. Though we are prisoners, you came out of concern for us.”
Jail Supt. Thomas Diaz Jr. echoed this gratitude, adding that the project supports the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology’s Plan 2040, which includes PDLs’ social reintegration. “They’re always regarded as ‘the last, the lost, the least’ but today you came here and made them feel that they come first in your heart.”
Natalia, 44, a Russian who served jail time in foreign lands and longs for her four children, received reading glasses and eyedrops. “I’m so pleased to be given attention today. I appreciate your coming here. I’m a single mother with no money. Nobody is helping me. No one is supporting me. You came and made my day.”
Patients’ words of gratitude are the reason volunteer optometrist Dr. Siu Yu Lam couldn’t retire from her profession 10 years back. She cherishes the opportunity to assist with Tzu Chi. “Volunteering gives me so much satisfaction. That I can do something for my community makes me happy because it gives my life value. Your capability is appreciated by those who need it. It may seem like a small effort on your part, but for them it matters a lot.”
Volunteer Joseph Co, Tzu Chi-Bohol medical head, said the optical mission is only one of many medical interventions for PDLs. This project fulfills Tzu Chi founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s goal to purify people’s minds and harmonize society. “We consider them patients in need of medical services, and every patient should be treated equally. We don’t look at their backgrounds, just as patients who need our care.”
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Tzu Chi Eye Clinic accepts indigent eye patients. Simply set an appointment by texting your name, birthday, address and eye problem to 0908-811-4709. A specialist will see you at the appointed date and time. Checkups, medicines and operations are funded through PhilHealth and supplemented through donations.
Address: 1000 Cordillera cor. Lubiran Streets, Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Manila. Clinic schedules: Mondays to Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Offering services for cataracts, glaucoma, eye tumors, squint and diseases of the cornea and retina.
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Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM).
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