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Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Expats pour aid to Siamese twins
By Harley F. Palangchao
BAGUIO -- A group of Cordillerans in the United States solicited P23,000 in financial assistance for the operation of the Kalinga Siamese twins who are now confined at the Philippine Children Medical Center
The expatriates learned the story of the twins from the Sun.Star online edition, www.sunstar.com.ph, where their story and photo was published.
The Cordillerans in the United States responded to the call for help of six-month-old Kalinga Siamese twins Lea Grace and Rachel Awel who are undergoing a lung tests.
In an email to Sun.Star Baguio, Rev. Dario Palasi of the St. John Episcopal Church in New York said the amount was solicited from expatriate Cordillerans and augmented with funds from the BIBAK (Bontoc, Ifugao, Benguet, Apayao, Kalinga), New York chapter.
Palasi, who is also the BIBAK adviser, said the amount was deposited on January 6 through the Philippine National Bank account of Fr. Esteban Basawil, the priest who baptized the twins last December.
"I'm sure the Awel family knows Fr. Basawil. He was the one who baptized the twins. If you have any contact with the family, please advise them to get in touch with Fr. Basawil," Palasi wrote.
When informed of the latest news, Kalinga Gov. Macario Duguiang re-echoed his appeal to other good Samaritans, saying that the Siamese twins will be needing additional help for their eventual separation.
The governor and his wife, Dr. Ruth Duguaing, have been personally assisting the parents of the Siamese twins.
Meanwhile, sources from Manila said that the Siamese twins are expected to undergo angiogram test at the Philippine Children Medical Center on Friday.
Doctors will later decide if the Siamese twins will be confined after the lung tests.
It was reported that the mother of the twins only has P20,000 but the actual fee for angiogram test is P40,000. Sources added that the twins are suffering from colds when they were brought to Manila last week.
Before the twins were brought to Manila, Dr. Marilyn Duyan, attending pediatrician, said that the twins are suffering from various ailments, most serious of which is pneumonia.
Duyan added that the twins, who are joined at the abdominal area and share a liver, are slated to go under the knife for their separation when they turn one-year old this coming July.
Malacaņang, as reported by a national daily, promised to give financial assistance to the Siamese twins when they were brought to a Manila hospital for a check-up.
Good Samaritans may forward assistance to bank accounts of the Awel twins: DSWD Account No. 1055104030 in the Land Bank of the Philippines-Tabuk and DSWD Account No. 3211-0429-14 at the LBP Quezon Circle in Quezon City.(Sun.Star Baguio) |
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