Dr. Cecille Taylor, The Dentist with a Heart
by Ric Pinca (AHS Batch 1972)
ANGEL OF MERCY DENTAL PROJECT
MAY 1, 2008 at Sases Basketball Court,
San Andres, Manila, Philippines

I was in Indonesia last weekend where one of my hosts is a well-known Indonesian dentist.  He told me of a joke about a dentist who advertised his clinic.  The ad said. " Discount for tooth extraction.  Tooth ache is free."

Well, tooth aches do come free, but at the cost of pain.  And normally, its either one pays a fortune for tooth extraction, or one endures the pain of an aching molar.  Of course extraction can also cause you an aching pocket.  Until you meet Cecille Taylor, that is..

Cecille is a dentist and an active member of Araullo High School Batch 1972.  She is no ordinary dentist, mind you.  Because she is a dentist with a heart.  And last May 1, she brought along her fellow dentists from the land of milk and honey for one day of dental services and extraction for free.  Yes, its the extraction that came free, not the tooth ache.

Cecille calls it "Angel of Mercy Dental Project," and we, her proud AHS Class 72 batchmates agree.  It was her idea.  Knowing that dental services in the Philippines dont come cheap, she thought of bringing along a group of similarly-minded Filipino-American dentists from Southern California for a day of dental services to the poorer members of her high school batch.  Their colleagues from the Manila Dental Society also gave a hand.  Cecille also sounded off her US-based AHS batchmates and they all agreed to support the worthy cause by donating funds and some goods such as toothrush and flosses and many more.  Batchmates from Australia and Canada also pitched in, sending dollars by the hundreds.  Generous hearts, these AHS batchmates.

In Manila, her Philippine-based classmates also came a helping. Some did the organization work.  Others got the Barangay chiefs in San Andres Manila to provide the place for the project, while some worked on getting deserving barangay residents to benefit from the free dental services, as well.

It took some months of planning and organizing.  And like other projects of good intents, there were anxious and agonizing moments too when people thought the project would fall through. Problems came in.  The Philippine Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) wouldn't issue working permits for US-based Pinoy dentists for a one-day free dental work!  And I thought the PRC is run by professionals!

Other barriers came in succession ---There's not enough patients!  "Takot ang tao magpabunot, gusto ng pasyente bayaran sila, etc., etc.  But when people of good intentions come   together, positive things do happen. And in this case, the spirit of coperation and friendship prevailed and the problems were resolved.

And on May 1, over 200 people lined up at the SASES Basketball Court in San Andres, Manila and got their aching teeth pulled, dental carries cleaned that they came out smiling later.  Albeit, with some gaps in their teeth.
Of course the Angel of Mercy Dental Project succeeded because everyone if the AHS72 community did their share.

There is Tess Calisay and Barangay Councilor Lumen Montano who charmed Barangay officials into letting the group use the SASES basketball court for the project.  Rey Bautista, the batch President who used his looming presence to get everyone to pitch in during the organizing and execution day; Tintin Cruz who held the budget closely; Eufemia Lonzaga whose generous heart extended hearthy meals to hungry tummies; and Francisco Candaza whose chair and table rental business was always ready source of chairs and tables for free!

Have you seen a nurse with a full beard and looks like Osama Bin Laden but is better looking than this Saudi fugitive?  That's Neil Velasco who with Beth Conde, also a nurse, did the preliminary screening of patients.

"Do you have High Blood Pressure?"
"Diabetes?  Buntis ka ba?"
"Teka muna pare, bakit mo tinatanong kung buntis siya."
"Kasi, bawal bawal bunutan ang buntis!"

"Ah, OK..  Eh bakit mo tinanong yung isa kung dalaga pa siya "
"Kasi maganda siya eh, he he he."

Remy Tan, ever smiling, was at SASES at 7:00 a.m. that May 1 morning merrily giving number cards to early patients.  Wala pang dentista naroon na siya.  Rosalinda Mata in all of her 150 lb. glory happily dispensed medicine and antibiotics, not minding the perspiration courtesy of the searing heat.  That must be her version of a weight-reduction program.

My favorite girlfriend Rosalinda"Vitamins" came with her more than 100 patients-recruits.  I am glad she is not an illegal recruiter.  My comrade Fidel Rillo came in his usual Ho Chi Minh-look and had a masterpiece of a "Certificate of Appreciation" for the dentists.  The certificates were so beautifully designed I thought of getting one myself even if I did not pull a tooth.  That's what you call "pulling strings", he he he.

And who could forget the beautiful Cielo Morales, the lawyer who took off her lawyer's robe to man the portal of the dental factory. "O, ikaw naman," she would tell a patient whose turn for the dental chair has come.  Actually, tingnan mo lang si Cielo mawawala na sakit ng ngipin mo.

Glen Callos and his dentist brother were there too.  Akala ng mga tao, dentista din si Glenn.  Iba na talaga gwapo.  Same with Dan Mangaldan who was not only a shuttle driver that day, but was the documentary photographer, as well.

Have you seen Dan's photographs of the event?  Look at the one he titled "Mass Production".  That picture sums up how the Angel of Mercy Dental project was done.

There were many more who were there but whose names my aging memory fails to recall.  I seek their forgiveness.

To Cecille and her "Angels," may your wings spread to cover more people and may you all soar to greater heights and more blessings come your way.

Araullo High School 1972 Alumni who volunteer and support Dr. Cecille Taylor's " Angel of Mercy Dental Project "