Breakthroughs, Trials, Successes: Doc Jing’s own BTS amid life’s crossroads

“One day the world stopped
Without any warning
Spring didn’t know to wait
Showed up not even a minute late
Streets erased of footprints
I lie here, fallen to the ground
Time goes by on its own
Without a single apology…”
– Life Goes On by BTS (English Translation)

At various points in her life, Dr. Angeli Comia, or Doc Jing, found herself making crucial decisions without any warning.

Being an only child, Doc Jing remembers being well-attended by her parents. “Adequate naman ang naging buhay ko noong bata ako,” Doc Jing shared. However, a huge plot twist in her life happened when her father returned after years of working overseas. They experienced a financial crisis for more than a decade, forcing her family to sell most of their properties and live in a makeshift house. “Nawala lahat. Parang ground zero uli. Dumaan talaga kami sa disaster.”

But it did not stop her from dreaming big. She initially wanted to become a lawyer or a teacher, the two professions she finds the most noble. But a high school experience led her to a change of heart.

In high school, teenage Jing and her best friend had a special community work in a Mangyan community in Mindoro. “Doon talaga nakita ko yung mga Mangyan na bumababa ng bundok. Yung mga bahay nila hindi permanent, talagang silungan lang.”

It was shocking for Jing’s young mind. “Hindi nila alam ang birthday nila. Minsan kung kailan daw yung huling bagyo, iyon daw ang birthday nila. May nakilala rin kami na 13 years old pa lang, pero may anak nang dalawa.”

While reflecting on that experience on their way home, Jing told herself “pagbalik ko dapat doktor na ako.”

Living the dream

People who may have known Doc Jing for quite some time may agree that she possesses contagious energy. It was not a surprise when she revealed that she initially wanted to specialize in emergency medicine.

“Nasa emergency room kasi ang action, tulad ng mga nakikita ko sa mga medical drama,” said Doc Jing who is an avid viewer of Korean drama series. When she joined the Doctors to the Barrio (DTTB) Program, Doc Jing found more reasons to like emergency medicine. “Iyong area ko island, sa Linapacan, Palawan. Para maikot ko ang mga barangay sa buong isla, it will take two months.”

Being the only doctor on the island, Doc Jing literally had to do everything: administering breech baby delivery, attending to patients with blast injuries, treating a comatose patient, dealing with diarrhea outbreaks. Name it and Doc Jing most probably have dealt with it.

What pained her, though, was seeing that many residents suffer from highly preventable diseases. “Bata pa lang, dapat iniiwasan mo na ang mga pwedeng iwasang sakit paglaki. Simpleng ubo at sipon, ibabangka pa ng mga residente. It’s preventable. Tapos, may mga barangay health workers pa who do not know how to read blood pressure.”

Hence, for her thesis, she focused on empowering the grassroots health workforce. “You can only do so much sa two years mo doon.” Empowering and training the local health workers gave her the relief that the residents will be well-attended even after her DTTB stint.

Doc Jing treasures her experience in Linapacan and regards it as an important part of her leadership journey. “Naging rich, colorful ang leadership journey ko. I have a story to tell.”

At a crossroads

Upon completing the DTTB program in October 2013, Doc Jing found herself at a crossroads.

Like she always dreamed of, Doc Jing finally got the chance to be an emergency room doctor. But her memories of Linapacan would always come to mind. “Iyong nagme-medical mission ako, consultation with patients sa ilalim ng puno o sa harap ng dagat. Na-miss ko rin iyong part na ‘yon ng buhay ko, kahit laging ma-aksyon sa ER. Naramdaman ko na parang hindi ito ang gusto ko.”

Eventually, Doc Jing decided to take a hiatus. She went for a little trip to Palawan, where the thoughts of pursuing obstetrics and gynecology entered her mind.

After a couple of months, Doc Jing returned to Manila. She knew she had to decide where to go. Her funds were slowly depleting so she had to find a job.

On one fateful day, Doc Jing met Prof. Ernesto Garilao, then President of the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), during a career orientation. Though not familiar with how ZFF works, she took her chance and applied for the account officer post of the Health Leadership and Governance Program (HLGP).

During that time, Doc Jing thought she still wanted to pursue obstetrics and gynecology. But Doc Jing found herself making another crucial choice sooner than expected. An interview with a hospital coincided with an HLGP meeting. “Mas na-excite ako sa HLGP meeting. I turned down the interview at the hospital. I stayed kung saan ako masaya, kung saan ako motivated. I stayed in ZFF.”

Doc Jing completed the first cycle of HLGP but considered leaving while the program’s second cycle was still in the works. “Sabi ko, baka it was time for me to leave,” Doc Jing shared. She took a one-month leave, during which she considered trying rehabilitation medicine.

But Doc Jing always finds her way back to ZFF. “Para sa akin kasi, if it’s not for you, it’s not for you. Mararamdaman mo siya by all means. May signs talaga na magsasabi sa’yo na it’s not for you.”

Carrying the lessons she gained from all those crossroads, Doc Jing eventually stayed in the Foundation.

Lessons learned

Even before joining ZFF, Doc Jing has always believed that experience is the hardest teacher. It gives the test first, then lessons afterwards. In ZFF, Doc Jing found the personification of this adage: Prof. Garilao.

Doc Jing recalls him saying, “Two things lang ‘yan sa pagiging bata: either bata ka kaya wala kang sinasabi. O bata ka pero mayroon kang masasabi.” Doc Jing pondered on those words. It became her motivation in dealing with local chief executives and senior public health leaders. “Imagine talking to a regional director. Who am I to be listened to by a regional director? They have a lot more to tell. I only had my sincerity.”

In her years in the Foundation, Doc Jing realized that her voice is in fact being heard.

From asking why these leaders would listen to her, Doc Jing shifted to asking how she can improve herself to be more instrumental in enabling change in the health system. Doc Jing also owes this shift to the solidarity she found in the organization. “ZFF is a very enabling environment. Here, we learn together.”

Making sense of her journey

During the Health Leadership and Management Program, a training activity for new ZFF staff, Doc Jing was given a chance to reflect on the things she has been doing since she decided to take the medical course. “We were asked ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you here?’ Kasi dati wala akong ganoong perspective. Napaka-technical kong tao. Never akong nag-introspect. Huli kong introspection ay bata pa ako. That was when I was wondering pa kung anong noblest profession.”

Doc Jing said that when she worked in ZFF, she was able to finally make sense of her journey: choosing public health, dealing with leaders when she served as Sangguniang Kabataan chairman, doing community work in the Mangyan community. “These experiences actually directed me to the right path, to what I really want.”

Development work is a long process. It cannot transform people overnight. But Doc Jing considers it a blessing to see the seeds you have sown in the community slowly flourishing.

Now as the Program Manager for the Provincial Health Leadership and Governance Program 4 under the ZFF Local Health Systems Portfolio, looking back, Doc Jing can only be grateful to the organization that helped her rediscover her sense of purpose. “My work in ZFF has shaken me to my core. It molded me as a person and as a leader. Parang nasa abyss ako noon, but the organization redeemed me. I am forever indebted to ZFF.”