WITH VALENTINES?S DAY SEVEN days away, it is apt that we should be talking about the 24 lives the ?Bagong Puso Mula sa Puso? project of the First Gentleman Foundation Inc. has saved through ?open-heart? surgery. ?This project is closest to FG?s heart,? according to Juris Umali-Soliman, president of the First Gentleman Foundation Inc. (FGFI).

She said, ?Outwardly, James Macaraeg, Catherine Manglo and Richard Raposon looked like the healthy kids that children their age were expected to be. But they couldn?t play, run around and laugh with the other kids their age. These activities were tiring to their young hearts.? James, Catherine and Richard all needed heart surgeries. With the help of the privately funded FGFI, they all underwent successful heart surgeries, with James and Catherine for Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) patch closure and Richard for mitral valve replacement. Now, they are normal happy children.

FG?s own experience

After surviving a high-risk open-heart surgery to repair an extensive tear in his aorta due to acute aortic-dissection aneurysm and triple-bypass as well in 1997, the First Gentleman put his heart out on helping people with cardiac and other medical problems. On his 63rd birthday in 2008, he sponsored 10 cardio ward patients at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). In the same quarter, six of the beneficiaries had successfully undergone heart surgeries and another four beneficiaries, a month after.

As of today, under this project, 24 cardio patients have successfully undergone open-heart surgeries. Around 10 more are already scheduled for operation in 2011. Aside from the foundation?s privately funded free open-heart surgeries, post-operative care is also provided by PGH?s departments of nursing, medicine, surgery, anesthesiology and pediatrics with Dr. Adrian Manapat as overall in-charge of the project. Click www.firstgentlemanfoun dation.org.ph.

Felicidad Sy wellness centers

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the SM Group recently donated the Felicidad Sy wellness center to the Air Force General Hospital by renovating its pediatric out-patient department and providing it with equipment and furniture. Col. Joseph Acosta, commanding officer of the AFGH, accepted the donation. It came at a time when 75 out-patients were being treated daily and 15 major operations were conducted weekly.

The 150-room hospital serves civilian employees of the armed forces and residents of communities near Villamor Airbase. The SM Foundation donation makes the 51st Felicidad Sy wellness center nationwide that includes four hospice units, 13 centers for the elderly, 31 centers for children and two barangay health centers.

World Day of the Sick

Pope John Paul II designated the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (Feb. 11) as World Day of the Sick. The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta in the Philippines has been celebrating this day with the sick and the aged since 1992. Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales will be the main celebrant in the Concelebrated Mass at Manila Cathedral Feb. 11, 9 a.m. Priests will lay hands on and anoint the sick.

The Order of Malta event is chaired by Delza Lazatin with overall chair Odelia Arroyo, both dames of magistral grace of the Order of Malta. And, as Ambassador Leonida Vera has been doing for 18 years, she will provide lunch for 1,200 sick and aged who will attend the Mass. Marivic Concepcion will take care of water and juices. Ernesto Rufino is the president of the Order of Malta in the Philippines.

Song of Joseph, the Musical

?Song of Joseph,? the musical, will have a repeat performance at the Cultural Center Main Theater on March 7, 3 p.m., after a successful run at the Meralco Theater last November. It is a religious music-theater masterpiece born out of love and devotion for the man who ?took care of the interests? of Mary and Jesus.

Leading the cast as Joseph is Jon Joven, a Broadway category gold medalist at the 2006 World Championship of the Performing Arts in Hollywood, and Tricia Amper Jimenez, a Voice graduate of the UP Conservatory of Music.