Pangasinan Regional Hospital Honors Church for Blood Donation Efforts

Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC), the biggest government hospital in Pangasinan located in Dagupan City, recognized four stakes (dioceses) and two wards (congregations) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the province for their unrelenting support of voluntary blood donation services.

Among honored during the culminating program of the hospital’s National Blood Donor's Month celebration on 26 July at the R1MC FQD Hall were the Bayambang, Calasiao, Lingayen, and Mangaldan Stakes, and San Carlos 1^st and 2^nd Wards.

Together with the Philippine Blood Coordinating Council (PBCC), which is a partner of the Department of Health in securing sufficient and safe blood supply in the country, R1MC cited the Church units for collecting a significant number of blood units from the period of July 2018 to June 2019.

The Bayambang Philippine Stake yielded 107 units of blood while Calasiao Philippines Stake donated 15 units. Moreover, Lingayen Philippines Stake provided 23 units, and the Mangaldan Philippines Stake gave 17 units. Additionally, San Carlos 1^st and 2^nd Wards donated a total of 24 units of blood.

Receiving the award on behalf of the stake and ward leaders was former Mangaldan Philippines Stake President Floyd Jardeleza.

In an interview, Dr. Gary U. Ong, PBCC President and a medical specialist at R1MC, praised the Church leaders and members for their active engagement in blood drives.

“In my experience when I was still the blood bank head, the first organization I worked with was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lingayen. They do it on a quarterly basis. That’s how active they are,” he said.

He bared that the dedication of the Church is apparent in coordinating Community-based mobile blood donation activities.

“One thing that I have observed from them is that they maintain the safety of the place (meetinghouses). They have the ideal set up—comfortable yet secures privacy. They are well organized. They have already prescreened and identified donors. It is easier for us to do our job,” he said.

Moreover, Dr. Ong said that he found that Church leaders and members practice the Christian virtue, charity, as the blood they donate is for the whole community to use and not reserved for their exclusive consumption.

“Even if we have different beliefs, yung dugo nila ay hindi lang para sa kanila. (their donated units are not kept for their own use.) They share it with everybody,” he said.

In the Pangasinan province, the Church of Jesus Christ has seven stakes and two districts (small dioceses). In an effort to follow the examples of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints in this province, as well as in many areas all throughout the Philippines, look constantly for meaningful ways to serve their community. Participating in blood drives is one way for the Church members to help relieve the sufferings of others as well as to care for those in need.