One long lecture

 

Justice Ameurfina M. Herrera

Associate Justice

Supreme Court of the Philippines

 

 

(Speech delivered during the 9th Recognition Rites of the School of Health Sciences, University of the Philippines Manila, People’s Center, Tacloban City, on April 9, 1990.)

 

 

Chancellor Domingo, Dr. Koh, members of the faculty and of the administration, our dear graduates, and gracious friends.

 

The Leyte experiment and strategy has proven viable.  An innovative approach to the development of health manpower has succeeded.  The thrust of delivering health care to rural communities has answered the need for responsive medical education.

 

It is but fitting, therefore, that this afternoon we give recognition to all who have made this common endeavor possible, and to this year’s graduates, who are the best exhibits of the success of the U.P. Manila School of Health Sciences.

 

I come as the bereaved widow of the late Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr., to whose memory you have dedicated your academic building this morning.

 

I come as an alumna of the University of the Philippines, conscious of its effort to democratize access to higher education.

 

I come as a Filipino, proud of the achievement that is the U.P. Manila School of Health Sciences.

 

I cannot overstate how much the SHS meant to my late husband, and how he continued to nurse it along, even after his retirement.  He had a broad, in fact a worldwide perspective, of health care and education.  He was exposed to different health leaders from developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. 

 

He yearned to see medicine in action in the remotest parts of the country, amongst our seven-thousand-plus islands, even if those regions were accessible only by boat.  He used to tell us how he, and others motivated like him, would help deliver a baby and just have an open fire to sterilize the bolo with which to cut the baby’s cord.

 

Thus is was that, without a doubt, he believed in the role that the SHS could and have to play.  Thus it was that he, and a select pioneer group, conceived of, believed in, and nurtured the growth and development of the SHS.

 

I must tell you, too, how ecstatic he felt when he learned that the first graduates from SHS had passed the medical board examination, and the other graduates had excelled in performance in the other levels of the curriculum.

 

He believed that the SHS would work, and it did, and is working.  The success of the SHS is the success of the Filipino people in overcoming the lack of opportunities imposed by socio-economic restraint; in willing to innovate and experiment, so that health manpower could be diffused to the rural areas, where it is needed most.  It speaks of the native feelings and motivation of the Filipino, of which he was a firm and outspoken believer.

 

Thus he dedicated his whole life to country and people in a way he knew best – medical education.  So much did he believe in the ability of the Filipino and the Philippines as a nation that he felt her problems and difficulties were his personal concerns and frustrations.  He often wished he had more time and capability to tackle the problems at hand.

 

SHS and its success kept his dreams and hopes alive.  To his mind, he thought all the while: “Yes, we can do it, someday.” 

 

His belief in helping medicine and the Filipino doctor was accentuated when, faced with the stark necessity of a heart by-pass, he unwaveringly, unhesitatingly, unequivocally, and emphatically stated, “I want the by-pass done here, not abroad.  I want to show the world that I have full faith in our Filipino doctors.”

 

It was that identical faith that I believe had made the SHS hold.  His whole life was one long lecture.  I vividly recall when the first complication of his last illness set in, he called me and our daughter, Lala, also an M.D., to his bedside at the Philippine Heart Center, and said, “Lala, you can understand this better than your mother.  This is my last lecture in medicine.  Physicians and students alike will learn from this particular pain that I am suffering from and defying medical explanation as of now.”

 

I objected to the word “last.”  I refused to accept it, until he was no more.

 

As an administrator and medical educator, he always believed in doing his utmost.  In fact, he was always intense.  Aware of his limitations, he would at least defer for counsel and expertise.  But he would always be there, orchestrating, leading, motivating, and inspiring. 

 

He would encourage medical leaders and educators to organize.  “Let’s get organized” was a favorite advise of his.  Organize, to establish policies and long-range goals, so that time and effort are not wasted on superficial, shortsighted gains that later evolve into more problems.  But rather plan, so that time and effort are maximized towards becoming a self-perpetuating force with forward momentum.

 

He would encourage graduates to commit themselves and to think.  “Use your head,” he would always say. 

 

Echoing that thought, allow me to tell you too: Commit yourself to take up the challenge of being future medical leaders.  Leadership is a call to service, teaching, research.  Commit yourself to service in your respective barangays and communities.  For that is the concept, the vision, the SHS.

 

And think.  And as you do, recognize opportunities.  Accept every challenge.  And to quote from a favorite song of his:

 

Climb every mountain

Ford every stream

And chase every rainbow

 

which, from my layman’s point of view, could well describe the vision that was, and is, the SHS.

 

You will now be performing as our people hope you would, and as the medical profession and the respective courses which you have been trained demand that you should.

 

And may you not forget, as you assume your respective roles in your communities, that humanitarian dimension of the training that you have received from the SHS, and particularly, that you are Filipinos first and foremost.

 

All the best, and only the best, to our new graduates.

 

Thank you.

 

 

(NOTE: Tape recorded and transcribed by: Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga.)