ILOILO CITY, Philippines — What happens when two forces of service unite? You don’t just get a project. You get a movement. Iloilo City was electric. This was an alliance in action. It was a powerful testament to what happens when we lock arms for one another. At the center? Physicians for Peace Philippines (PFPP), driven by the vision of Chairman and President, Dr. Josephine Bundoc, M.D., and the Rotary spirit, both living out their unwavering commitment to “Service Above Self.”
Together, they poured their hearts into the Community Hearing Healthcare and Mobility Program. This wasn’t some simple medical outreach. It was a declaration that every single life matters. That dignity isn’t negotiable. And that no one in the community gets left behind.
This was not a mission built in isolation. It was a symphony of service, made possible by the incredible generosity of a private group, the Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council (PJMCC), a friend and donor of PFPP, whose former Chair is also a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Intramuros, Rtn Emmanuel “Manny” Regio, whose sponsorship formed the financial backbone of this entire endeavor. Their belief in the cause provided the fuel.
And orchestrating the on-the-ground magic was the Quota Club of Iloilo together with the Rotary Club of Metro Iloilo, whose members were the tireless engine of mobilization, rallying volunteers and weaving together the intricate logistics with local partners. This was the very soul of bayanihan—a coalition of hearts beating as one.
A Convergence of Purpose
Walking into the venue, St. Martin’s Court at Assumption, Iloilo, you could feel the energy. It was a canvas of hope. Banners told the story of this shared purpose. You had PFPP’s “Teach One, Heal Many” resonating right next to Starkey’s “So the World May Hear.” And it just hit you: these were not just words. No, this was the real deal.
This was the “why” that pulled everyone together. The doctors, the audiologists, the nurses, and that whole army of volunteers. They all showed up for one luminous reason. To give back hearing. To give back movement. And to bring back hope.
The program was a masterclass in targeted impact. One team, armed with otoscopes and expertise, brought the gift of sound to those who had lived in silence. Life-changing hearing aid fittings, made possible through a partnership with the Starkey Foundation, didn’t just open ears; they opened worlds.
At the same time, another team was tackling the gift of movement. This was the mobility drive: a pure torrent of empowerment. They weren’t just handing out standard wheelchairs. They had specialized ones for tough cases like cerebral palsy, each given with precision and real care, a gift from another partner of Physicians for Peace Philippines, The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints Charities.
And the reason it all ran so smoothly? You have to give it to the RC of Metro Iloilo and the Philippine Red Cross-Iloilo Chapter. Their team did the heavy lifting, coordinating the entire flow to make sure this help wasn’t just random. It got to the specific people who had been waiting, some of them praying, for this exact day.
The Human Proof of Service
But the true measure of this mission wasn’t in the numbers. It was in the human stories that unfolded, one after another.
We saw it right there, in the eyes of twin siblings. Both deaf and mute, they walked in with the weight of the world on their shoulders. But they walked out transformed. Smiles just lit up their faces as they heard, really heard, with clarity for the first time. They gestured to us, making it clear these weren’t just devices. They were a promise. A promise of a brighter academic future.
We felt it in the profound relief of Sister Iris Clark, a beloved sister at the college, who had been immobilized by a years-old back injury. Her old wheelchair had given up. As she settled into a new one, perfectly fitted to her needs, her words were simple but carried immense weight: “I am truly, deeply blessed.”
And then, a moment would just capture the beautiful, complex reality of family love. A family stepped up. The daughter had severe cerebral palsy, the son, mild autism. Their father, just looking on with such quiet pride, explained that his son… he was the one who was his sister’s primary caregiver. The specialized wheelchair they received, complete with a foldable desk for easier feeding, wasn’t just a piece of equipment. It was a tool that honored their family’s bond. The father’s promise echoed the spirit of the day: “My son promises to continue caring for his sister and work hard, regardless of his own condition.”
A Blueprint for the Future
Ms. Lyne Abanilla, PFPP’s COO and Rotary Governor from Rotary International District 3810, captured the essence of the mission in her opening remarks. “Our goal is not just to provide medical aid but to empower people,” she declared. “To give them the tools to live fuller lives. Hearing and mobility are basic human needs that connect us to the world, and today, we’re making those connections possible.”
This Iloilo event is a powerful blueprint for how to get things done. It’s the magic that happens when Rotary’s “Service Above Self” motto partners with the incredible, hands-on skills of Physicians for Peace Philippines. And when you fuel that partnership with the focused generosity of sponsors like PJMCC and the community-rallying power of groups like the Rotary Club of Metro Iloilo and Quota Club Iloilo, the results just go off the charts. It’s exponential.
And as the day wound down, the hall… it was just filled with the music of life. That quiet anticipation from the morning? It was gone. All that laughter, all that conversation. You could literally hear the sound of hope being reborn. That whole symphony of service in Iloilo just proved a timeless truth: healing is so much more than just medicine. It’s about connection. It’s about compassion. It’s about showing up for one another. And in that, Physicians for Peace, Rotary, and their partners are, and will always be, one.