Just like an ordinary bank, Ferrolino hopes to store up a lot of blood to be used in times of crisis.
“Para sa puli nga dugo (This is for replacement),” Ferrolino said of his regular donation.
Roger Mariano Jr., executive assistant to the RBCC president and soon-to-be manager, said every bag of blood Ferrolino donates will be credited as a bag of blood for his future use.
Ferrolino showed Sun.Star Cebu his RBCC card, which contained his blood deposit for the last two years.
When asked if he is aware that RBCC will be downgraded to a blood collecting unit or BCU, Ferrolino said no.
Apparently, there is also no guideline on how the blood deposits of people like Ferrolino will be honored, considering that RBCC’s license as a blood bank will expire tomorrow.
Thousands of cardholders
RBCC chairman and president Jovita Anoos-Ceniza only has the assurance of the DOH that RBCC cardholders will be taken care of.
Ferrolino is only one of close to 26,000 RBCC cardholders.
While he is among those that were lucky to donate blood before RBCC becomes a BCU, there are worries on how to convince other people to donate.
“For the person who donates blood, what do you give in return?” Mariano said.
In the present setup, RBCC blood donors are given cards serve as passbooks that can be used to withdraw blood anytime.
“One of the advantages of this is that even if the blood is rejected, one can still avail of the (free) blood,” Mariano said.
He said that through the years, people’s eagerness to donate blood has steadily declined. He said this will even drop further without incentives for donation.
RBCC maybe based in Cebu, but it has clients as far as Siquijor. Ceniza said it has reached far-flung places because of its blood-letting activities, which are held as often as 13 a month.
Schools
Mariano said that consistent blood donors are schools, especially those that used to offer ROTC or Reserve Officers Training Course, and now CWTS or Civic Welfare Training Service.
With RBCC closing as a blood bank, Mariano said the public will surely miss having a 24-hour blood bank.
RBCC is open all the time, with most of their clients coming in at dawn because other blood banks have already closed.
Although she disagreed with the downgrading of RBCC to a BCU, Ceniza said that she would rather obey and see what the DOH plans for them.
Ceniza wrote Health Secretary Francisco Duque III last month of RBCC’s intention to close after 17 years.
She said in the letter that RBCC has been overtaken by the Regional Blood Center and Philippine National Red Cross in terms of operation.
RBCC’s license expires on June 30 but it will be given a new one as a BCU.
Ceniza and her staff of ten had a get-together yesterday afternoon to commemorate their achievements in their close to two decades of serving the Cebuanos. (JGA)
