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PROFILE
FAMI'S
VOLUNTEER: DR. PHILIP CRUZ
“ We can’t save
the World but we can save kids”
Inquirer Newspaper – November 6,
2002
- Written by Blanche S. Rivera
When James Philip Cruz ventured into his career in
medicine, he had no idea he was going to be a social worker, a hospital
boy, a public relations man and an entrepreneur as well. Cruz, then chief
resident of the Philippine General Hospital Pediatric Ward in 2002, had
only wanted to be a doctor for kids, nothing more, nothing less.
His fascination with
children and frequent trips to the pediatrician when he was young shaped
this vision of him in a white robe. What he did not see, however, was the
difficult and stressful picture of a doctor in a government hospital
battling not just diseases but poverty. Cruz, 30, has spent four years
with the PGH pediatric department. Immediately after graduating from UP
Manila
, Cruz served at the PGH, where he was appointed chief resident.
“Its different when you
know you’re in the place where you have to be, where you know you are
needed,” Cruz says in an interview. Cruz is the man behind Give a Life
Project, which is where unofficial careers as an entrepreneur and a public
relations man begin. The project is meant to raise funds for the PGH
Pediatric ward, which is destitute for facilities. As advocate of the
project, Cruz approaches possible donors through emails, infomercials, and
personal meetings to make them aware of the plight of the young patients
at the PGH. His task as a social worker emerges in the paperwork, through
which he appeals to agencies like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes
Office and the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp., to give financial
assistance to PGH patients. He says he finds the challenge and inspiration
in treating kids now that he is himself a father.
“The kids are so
innocent, some are born with defects and they just have to live with what
God has given them. They can’t tell you what’s wrong, so it’s more
fulfilling when you cure their problems,” Cruz said.
He has been tempted by
opportunities to study and eventually practice medicine abroad where the
demand for health practitioners is great, but the young doctor had turned
these down out of a sense of obligation to his country.
He says it was his growing
up years in
Brunei
, where his parents had worked for 35 years, which molded his identity as
a Filipino in a foreign land. When his family returned to the
Philippines
, Cruz studied at the Ateneo de Manila High School where his resolve to do
something for fellow Filipinos was reinforced.
Now that he is living his dream, Cruz admits that even with the generosity
of donors and the competence of the pediatricians, work in a government
hospital never ends.
“It gets tiring at
times, and we all get frustrated, especially when a child dies because the
parents are too poor to afford medicines,” the doctor says. “We
can’t save the world, but at least we’re trying to do what we can
where we are,” he says.
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