Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Family doctors
By Attorney Guerrero A. Adaza
My Viewpoints
I HAD an appointment with Dr. Natasha Emano Elazigue last Thursday afternoon for the past 3 days I suffered pain in the neck area in the early mornings, which I never had before. While the pains are bearable, it gives me a lot of discomfort and it deprives me of sleep.
I was with my wife Kits when we visited Dr. Natasha's Clinic which this time is in Cagayan de Oro Medical Center not at the Capitol University Medical City, where I found out from the young but very capable surgeon that she holds clinic in the mornings from Monday to Friday in the aforesaid Hospital and in the afternoon, she sees her patients in the Medical Center, where her well known uncle Dr. Nandy Emano also holds clinic.
Dr. Natasha gave me a prescription for an antibiotic to ease the pain and another one to allow me to eat solid food without much discomfort, for lately I had a lot of difficulty eating solid food and so I had to content myself for the last 3 days to take "linugaw," oats and milk.
In this recovery period of mine I had to be careful with the food I take due to my diabetes, even though a controlled one, for it can complicate matters, diabetes being the mother of complications.
It is really very important for a patient to have a doctor he has tremendous confidence in and for the physician to be competent and dedicated. I remembered in my early childhood where family physicians were then the fashion of the day.
The doctors were the ones who come to the patient's house and treat the patient accordingly. Our family physicians were Dr. Jesus Seriña Sr., the father of Dr. Titot Seriña, an anesthesiologist and Dr. Gerardo Sabal Sr., who is the father of optometrist Dr. Mike Sabal and Dr. Santi Sabal, a Kagawad of Misamis Oriental.
The rest of the Sabal siblings Tony, Claudio and Celeste are doctors and are residents of the United States of America. The Sabals own a hospital in our City, which is situated at Apolinar Velez Street, where their original house stood before.
Dr. Jesus Seriña Sr., later became a many time elected councilor and consequently Mayor of our City. He was a humble, unassuming man, honest and devoted to his private and public callings.
Dr. Gerardo Sabal Sr. was also elected several times as City's councilor. He became a Vice-mayor too but never got to be the City mayor, for the public then believed so much in the leadership of the City Mayor then, the legendary lawyer Justiniano R. Borja, Tinying as he was popularly known.
He is the father of the Court of Appeals Justice Romulo Borja, who is the former Dean of the College of Law of Xavier University, before his appointment to the Judiciary.
A statue in the late Tinying's honor stands at Divisoria and a major street in our City is named after him.
Cagayan de Oro, where today, is one of the most peaceful and progressive cities in the country, has to thank for some respected and successful medical practitioners of the past who became our City's public servants for they too contributed much to the city's developments not just the lawyers like former Mayors Tinying Borja, Reuben Canoy, Nene Pimentel, Ambing Magtajas, Manolo Tagarda through succession and Cording Diel by appointment, Vice Mayor Jun Damasing, Elyong Luminarias and Osmundo Waga, former City Councilors Tinnex Jaraula, Mending Balinado, Tata Pacana, Celing Velez, Berchmans Abejuela, Kito Beja, Ed Raagas, Charie Akut and Tino Cabacungan.
At present our booming city, which is now in the consciousness of people in many parts of the world is headed by a dynamic visionary and a devoted apostle for the common good and advocate of peace, City Mayor Vicente Y. Emano, a college dropout.
Mayor Emano's phenomenal leadership proves that it is not just the professionals, who can b e trusted to run the affairs well of a City, a province, or a nation, but even dropouts who are gifted by God with intelligence, dedication, capability, and integrity.
(September 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
