FILIPINO FRONTLINERS GET RARE SALUTE

Last May, the Filipino nurse, a frontliner, in this raging COVID-19 pandemic, got a rare salute from no less than one of the top leaders of the world: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Premier Johnson, who had just battled the coronavirus, was seen in a T-shirt emblazoned with the word PHILIPPINES in bold letters, just after doing a jogging run and was trying to inconspicuously enter his offices.

It was a silent accolade to the Filipino nurse’s indomitable spirit to provide care and compassion and love to those they attend to, while far away from their motherland, and laboring to deliver what they have recited in their oath as nurses.

And while Johnson did a silent salute of a shout-out to the Filipino nurse, top British journalist and TV personality Piers Morgan had inspiring sound bites in a Good Morning broadcast. He went all out in his praise and the Filipino nurse occupied center stage in the virulent world of this pandemic.

After reciting the individual names of the Filipino nurses, Morgan said: “So thank you to all the Filipinos who are here doing all this amazing work and to every other working in the NHS currently. I hope at the end of this, we’ll have a, perhaps a different sentiment, a different feeling about what immigration has done for this country.”

The Financial District, desirous of delivering the kind of care that Filipino nurses are known for, then “journeyed” to the United States, now emerging as the epicenter of COVID-19 transmissions,  and linked up with Andrew Ma, a Filipino nurse to tell us about the stories of love and hope and care and compassion that Filipino healthcare workers deliver.

Ma is in the thick of the COVID-19 response in California where the state saw to it that the homeless are sheltered from the coronavirus in what has come to be known as “Project Room Key” where the homeless are brought to motels and other lodging places so that they are safeguarded from catching the dreaded coronavirus.

To him, being of service to others, especially the homeless is something special. “There is no better feeling than going to work each day, knowing that I have the ability to protect and care for the homeless during this uncertain and difficult time, “ the 29-year old registered nurse said.

Service, duty, compassion. Love for what they are doing. These echo in the TFD’s link-up with the Filipino healthcare workers and the great work they do, unmindful of their own safety and just silently delivering the caring attitude that the Filipino frontliner is known for.

There is Lui Rivera, 30, assigned to the Cardiothoracic Operating Room at the Los Angeles County, USC Medical Center, Alexanne Vasquez, a registered nurse in San Diego, California, Harrison Ma, 24 , a medical scribe at the Emergency Department and they all talk of the danger lurking by and still doing their assigned work.

For Harrison Ma, there is that “glaring PPE shortage” and the short supply of face masks, goggles and gloves and yet despite these risks, he continues and “endure these conditions time and time again to ensure the safety of the community.”

The Filipino frontliners are fearless. Listen to Lui say it all: “ I come to work fearlessly and proud as a frontliner against COVID-19. I will not stop doing what I love to do! Nurses are leaders and during disasters, we do not walk away.”

To hear such courageous words is to feel pride as a Filipino.

Filipino nurses make their mark in a world that needs not just care but love. For Rob Robles, a registered nurse and Clinical Operations Manager of the Emergency Department of The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, he deems it a privilege to the feeling that he is “leading the battle against the pandemic.”

“It can definitely be daunting at times because of all the unknowns, but we push through and be safe ourselves to be able to keep doing our duties and help those in need, “ Robles said.

That is what resonated in all the link-ups that TFD did to provide a backdrop to what the Filipino frontliners do. Vincent Acosta, 43, who is with the Kaiser Permanente PACU/ICU likens it to riding a wave with its peak and decline and that no matter how sick, “I move forward giving it my all and hoping the outcome is a positive one for each soul.”

Gerard Christian Nolan of a home health company in Alabama; Cherry Zuno of AMITA Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago , Illinois; Edgar Lim, a 32 year old registered nurse at a pre-operative services center in Los Angeles, California, Clarence Santos of Jersey City Medical Center, Capt. Andrew Antonio of the United States Air Force who is an occupational therapist and Gail Melicor, a Registered Nurse of Los Angeles County + Medical Center have their own personal crusades in seeing to it that the coronavirus is defeated whilst they do the tasks they were mandated to perform.

Capt. Antonio and Gail Melicor summed it up for the TFD and what they said resonated within the walls of The Financial District and will surely ripple out to the kind of dedication that the Filipino healthcare workers show in splendid fashion.

“I am humbled, thankful and accept responsibility to serve those in need – always, in all ways,” Antonio said.

And for Ms Melicor,30, what gives her so much joy as a labor and delivery nurse is to have the “opportunity to help safely bring new life into the world.”

To see the excitement in family’s faces, and be part of a woman’s most precious moment in her life is what prompted her to become a nurse. And to her, “ to care wholeheartedly and compassionately and to help bring healing to those in need,” is what is paramount in Melicor’s mind.

Indeed, the pandemic has birthed the Filipino nurse as a caring and compassionate person, worthy of a silent but roaring salute from no less than a top leader of a great nation. [Lito U. Gagni | Andrew Seno-Ma]