Wazzup Pilipinas!
Celebrating 97 years of excellence, leadership and service, the Upsilon Sigma Phi, the oldest Greek-lettered fraternity in Asia, recently reaffirmed its commitment to serve the public with the Upsilon Cares: Free medical, dental, optical and surgical mission held last November 14 at Barangay Kabulusan, Pakil, Laguna.
A breakthrough number of more than 2,000 underserved residents of six barangays Banilan, Dorado, Casa Real, Matikiw, Casinsin and Kabulusan in Pakil received free medical and health care services including medicines and eyeglasses. In cooperation with the Provincial Government of Laguna, the activity was part of the UP-based fraternity’s 97th anniversary celebration appropriately dubbed “Transcendence: 97 Years of Living the Imperative of Service” and is a continuing testament to the brotherhood’s tradition of making a difference in the lives of Filipinos.
The massive public service initiative was also a major success as it was able to bring together almost a hundred resident members and alumni from the fraternity’s only two chapters in UP Los Banos and UP Diliman/Manila. Upsilon alumni doctors, Dr Renato Dario, Dr Ian Ezpeleta, Dr Francis Rabara, Dr Jegar Catindig and Dr Sean Aquilino and twenty (20) other UP Manila medical students also collaborated with other doctors and staff of the provincial government medical team in dispensing various medical assistance services of the event.
Upsilon Cares provided FREE of these services: medical consultation, dental (tooth extraction), minor surgical procedure (warts removal, cysts (Sebaceous, Lymphoma), boils, circumcision), optical (eye screening) and pap smear. Also, free ECG and laboratory (FBS/ RBS, urinalysis, cholesterol test, uric acid test). The event also provided free medicines, eyeglasses, food, games and toys for kids and provided even free haircut for all.
Upsilon Cares was spearheaded by Fellow Clark Aldwin Banaag, who hoped that the outstanding success of the activity could be replicated in years to come as it made a difference not only in the lives of Pakil residents but also developed camaraderie and civic consciousness among fraternity members. He also acknowledged the outstanding help of Fellow Vincent Soriano, whose efforts was vital in the success of the activity.
Founded in 1918, Upsilon Sigma Phi’s tradition and prominence spans almost a century of national relevance which is reflected not only in its regular public service initiatives but also among its individual members including Benigno Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos, Joker Arroyo, current UP President Alfredo Pascual and other luminaries of Philippine politics, industry, academe. Its long history of public service initiatives include the Upsilon-Gawad Kalinga partnership in 2005 which resulted in the establishment of 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities within 7 years.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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