A team of Filipino-Australian doctors from Camillian Disaster Service Australia, together with the Philippine Australian Medical Association, Aguman Capampangan Australia and Sta. Lucia Parish held a three-day medical mission in Sasmuan town.
The event is the 15th medical mission of the Filipino-Australian doctors in the country, locally dubbed "Mayap a Sasmuan Pu!"
It was held at the Sta. Lucia Parish grounds from March 18 to March 20.
The outreach program was organized and facilitated by mayoral candidate and philanthropist Charito Cubacub-Montemayor, with the support of volunteers.
More than 2,000 residents from the 12 barangays of Sasmuan benefitted from the medical and mission.
The group provided the residents with free medicines, eyeglasses after the consultations.
The medical team said that most of the cases addressed during the mission were non-surgical dental and eye treatments, hypertension and other mild illnesses among children and adults.
Montemayor said the groups held the medical mission again after 12 years to sustain what has been started in 2013, a time when she was in her first year of retirement from the top of the corporate world.
It was also during that time when Montemayor is restarting her philanthropic works for the people of Sasmuan who supported and helped her and the family during her younger years as she struggled to become a chemical engineer with meager resources.
"In 2013, a friend of ours from Australia asked if they could bring their outreach program to Sasmuan as Australia gives doctors incentives like travel tax deductions especially if the mission is conducted in a third world country. So they tied up with Ugnayan Pahinungod of the UP-Philippine General Hospital doctors for the mission," she said.
Montemayor stressed that this year's medical mission is non-political and has no relation to the upcoming midterm polls.
"When our friend asked if we could conduct the medical mission again here in Sasmuan, I hesitated. My greatest concern was that people might give it political color given the upcoming elections in May. So I prayed to the Lord for the right decision on how I could help my kabalens in Sasmuan again without politics. After a week, I decided to push through with it, taking it as a breakthrough from God. Hulog siya ng langit," Montemayor said.
"So we decided to hold it at the church to make it accessible and rid it of politics. It comes from our heart to help our kabalens in need, election or no election," she added.