NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines—In the 1960s, Dr. Floriño Francisco turned his back to a job offer for him to be an associate in adolescent medicine at Harvard University in the United States.
His father, National Artist for Literature Lazaro Francisco, had told him that it would be a nobler deed to return home and serve his countrymen than live in affluence as a second-class citizen in a foreign land.
Francisco, now 70, heeded his father’s advice and returned home in 1968 after finishing his post-graduate training and residency in several US hospitals and medical facilities.
He practiced in the Philippines and established the Lingap Bata Medical Mission 12 years ago in Nueva Ecija. He also initiated and participated in projects that helped the poor.
Francisco, who finished medicine at the University of Santo Tomas, is one of six Filipino doctors cited recently in “The Outstanding Physicians in Community Service” (Topics) by the Auxiliary to the Philippine Medical Association Inc. (Apma).
Oscar Tinio, president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), said the Topics award recognizes doctors who have been walking the “extra mile” by rendering their services to make a difference in their communities.
Francisco, the chief of clinics of the Nueva Ecija Doctors’ Hospital, was cited for initiating community-oriented projects like the Libreng Gamutan sa Barangay (a free medical mission in villages), a day-care center, livelihood training program for out-of-school youths, and the Botika sa Barangay (village-based drugstores).
He was also cited for his role in pushing the Lingap Bata medical mission.
Francisco launched the projects as president of the Nueva Ecija Medical Society from 1989 to 1990. He was one of the doctors who braved a swollen river in Cabiao town in 1995 so they could hold a medical mission for typhoon victims in remote villages.
He also undertook a six-month supplementary feeding program for 100 poor Grade 1 pupils in an elementary school in San Isidro town.
With his exposure to the works of his father, Francisco developed the love for writing and wrote a series of articles for a national magazine in 1968 tackling the evils of heroin, marijuana and drug abuse.
He wrote about child development in the 1970s and a column, “Doktor ng Bayan,” for one of the regional newspapers in Central Luzon.
With his pen, he tackled environment issues, the perils of smoking, brain drain, and proper care and nutrition of infants and children.
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Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer Oct. 15, 2010.
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