Heart for health

The idea that we were born for some higher purpose and it’s our mission to find it might sound taxing for some. Many of us have no clue what we want to do with our lives—even after we finish school, get a job, and start making money. But there are also some who have a clear vision of the path they would take. One of them is Dr. Anthony Rosendo Garcia Faraon.

His father is a public health doctor, while his mom is a medical technologist. Being around doctors as a kid gave him a profound respect for the medical profession. Young Tony was exposed to the work of his parents in the Department of Health (DOH). In high school, his father used to drop him off at the University of Sto. Tomas before going to work. After classes, it became a routine for him to go to his father’s office. It was just 10 minutes away after all. While waiting for his dad, young Tony would often chat with his father’s colleagues or read his father’s documents. DOH practically became his little playground.

There were also times when he tagged along during their field work. He recalled spending a whole summer in Bukidnon where his mom got assigned for a time. “It was a good memory. In a way, it exposed me to their work,” Doc Tony recalled.

It has always been clear to him that he would also be in the medical field. But contrary to what his parents dreamed for him, he chose the path to public health.

Realities and frustrations

Doc Tony applied in DOH shortly after he passed the boards. To his surprise, the director who interviewed him said, “kabilin-bilinan ng tatay mo, huwag ka naming tanggapin dito.” Frustrated, Doc Tony approached his father in hopes of getting reasonable answers.

“Walang pera at maraming problema sa public health. Hindi ka yayaman dito,” Doc Tony recalled his father’s words. They wanted him to be a clinician, and just explore joining the government later in his career. It was frustrating, but he also understood where his father was coming from.

When his father was just starting in DOH, the government had a very small program on tuberculosis. There were at most five in the team, until it grew to a bureau before his retirement. It has become a national program, and yet the challenges in addressing tuberculosis remain.

But because he really did not want to take the clinical route, Doc Tony dedicated his time to his master’s in public health in Fe del Mundo Medical Center. To earn a little, Doc Tony accepted a job in a private hospital—an experience that affirmed his calling to be in public health.

The incidents he witnessed in the hospital perturbed Doc Tony. Emergency room staff would often tell him to double the needed stitches for wounds so they could give him a higher professional fee. “Hindi naman ‘yumaman’ ang rason kung bakit ako nag-medisina, e,” Doc Tony said.

Stories like prescribing injectable medicines when it can be addressed by oral ones were also pretty common. But what frustrated him the most was an incident when he was advised to do up-diagnosing so they could admit more patients in the hospital. When the patient is indigent, however, they would advise him to refer the patient to another hospital.

He left and accepted a job in the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) focused on managing community clinics and community centers in urban poor communities in Metro Manila. It was a noble program, and everything seemed to be working well for Doc Tony. Soon, however, the program was transformed into a political scheme—a system he could not stand. Staying was not an option.

The stars aligned

In 2007, Doc Tony chanced upon a vacancy in Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF, then known as Zuellig Foundation). He was not familiar with the organization but he knew then that it was the one he was looking for. The vision of the organization aligned with his.

The Zuellig Foundation had a very small team back then. With at most six staff, the Foundation offered a Health Leadership and Management Program, which was positively accepted by DOH managers. A year later, Prof. Ernesto Garilao joined and the thrust of the Foundation started to shift. Zuellig Foundation became a family foundation, and it began to focus on capacity-building and leadership in the rural areas.

“No’ng pumasok si Prof, we really started from scratch. May framework, but it’s not on health,” Doc Tony recounted. All they had back then was a bond paper where they drafted the initial score cards. “Nag-drawing lang kami ng anim na blocks. Wala pa ang red, yellow, green coding. Smileys pa ang ginagamit namin.” Those were the humble beginnings of the Zuellig Family Foundation.
It was the fulfillment of his dreams, but it did not come easy. Doc Tony shared that it was a huge challenge to convince the stakeholders, the Local Chief Executives (LCEs), and even the national government to believe in the programs of the Foundation. “They would often ask what they could get from engaging with ZFF. How do you convince LCEs to prioritize health?”

The local government units they engaged were those with difficult and complex situations. ARMM, for instance, had a complex context aside from the fact that it’s a conflict-stricken area.

But through their determination and effective collaboration, they are now seeing how ZFF’s Bridging Leadership Program was able to transform the leaders, stakeholders, the systems, and the outcomes. “From nothing to something talaga. Through the leadership of Prof. Garilao and the collective work of the staff, we were able to make that difference,” Doc Tony further shared.

ZFF’s first balikbayan

In 2012, Doc Tony left ZFF for an opportunity to lead a global program with multinational pharmaceutical companies. The 5 years he spent outside ZFF let him gain another perspective, but it also made him realize that his heart belongs to ZFF and the work it does to reform health systems and improve access to healthcare.

In 2017, he joined back and was dubbed as ZFF’s first balikbayan. Doc Tony hopes to sustain and even expand the good work, the gains and transformations that they have been doing, especially in terms of improving health outcomes on the ground. He also aspires to build more partnerships so that they can continue the work they committed to accomplish.

“ZFF provided a lot of elbow room to learn and even to make mistakes. While we make mistakes, we are also able to make immediate actions to respond to those mistakes.” ZFF work is not perfect, Doc Tony admits. But he also believes that the burning passion he sees in every staff member would take them a step closer to the realization of better health outcomes for every Filipino.

This is what his heart wants, and Doc Tony can only be grateful for finally finding the people and the organization that share the same vision. The heart wants what it wants, and he found it in ZFF.