By Arlo Custodio
A FILIPINO pediatrician who has been championing the Filipino child’s right to protection by creating safe spaces for abused children nationwide, and the lone 2022 Ramon Magsaysay awardee from the Philippines, was the guest and keynote speaker at the Filipina CEO Circle (FCC) general membership meeting on May 11, 2023 held at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Malate, Manila.
FCC co-founder Marife Zamora introduced host Cathy Yang, who in turn introduced pediatrician Bernadette Madrid. The doctor spoke on her advocacy that earned her Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize.
Now on its 65th year, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation’s citation of Madrid reads in part: “Born to a family of professionals in Iloilo, Philippines, she studied medicine and pediatrics at the University of the Philippines Manila (UP Manila) and did a post-residency fellowship in ambulatory pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. The center’s Child Abuse Program opened her eyes to a problem that she and fellow Filipino doctors did not quite discern, though this was very much a part of daily reality in her home country, with its conditions of poverty, child labor, trafficking, and violence.
(From left) US Embassy Deputy Economic Counselor Alaina Magnotta, USAid Agreement Officer’s Representative Consuelo Lacson-Anonuevo, Valerie Pama, Susan Afan, The Manila Times President and COO Blanca Mercado, Kat Luna-Abelarde, Bernadette Madrid, Cathy Yang, Karen de Venecia, Margie Moran-Floirendo, Marife Zamora, Esther Santos and Ginia Domingo.
“Upon her return to the Philippines, she tried to establish a Child Abuse Program in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila, the country’s premier public hospital, but the program was short-lived for lack of support. Madrid returned to Iloilo, started a private practice, and seemed headed for a quiet, provincial career until she was called back to Manila in 1996 to head an emergency unit for abused children in PGH, at the insistence of UP Manila and American child protection crusader David Bradley and the Advisory Board Foundation (now CityBridge Foundation). In 1997, Madrid assumed office as head of the PGH Child Protection Unit (PGH-CPU), the first such facility in the country. She would in the next 25 years pursue an active, multifaceted career that would put her at the helm of what has been praised as ‘the best medical system for abused children in Southeast Asia.’
“A one-stop health facility, PGH-CPU provides a coordinated program of medical, legal, social, and mental health services for abused children and their families. As of 2021, it has served 27,639 children. It became the axis of a national network of child protection units when the Child Protection Network Foundation Inc. (CPN), a partnership of civil society, academe, and government, was established in 2002. As CPN executive director, Madrid has designed programs and engaged with family courts, schools, hospitals, local government units, community organizations, and policymakers in advancing the cause of child protection.
“The board of trustees recognizes her unassuming and steadfast commitment to a noble and demanding advocacy; her leadership in running a multisectoral, multidisciplinary effort in child protection that is admired in Asia; and her competence and compassion in devoting herself to seeing that every abused child lives in a healing, safe, and nurturing society.”
Madrid said she was overwhelmed with gratitude to have been selected to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, so honored to have her work recognized by Asia’s most prestigious award.
“I was asking, ‘Why me?’ I found more reasons as to why I am undeserving of this award. It is like the violin player receiving recognition on behalf of the whole orchestra. I am just one violin player. I am just a representation of the organizations in this crusade,” she said in her speech and interview at the FCC event.
She went on to say that in the last 25 years, she learned that there are no quick fixes, “that we cannot do this alone, that we need the system to work and that we need ordinary people to do their job with purpose, compassion, and skill. Unfortunately, I also found out that ending violence against children will not happen on its own. We need to fight for it. It needs planning, commitment, resources, persistence, and leadership. With it comes accountability.”
There is no other cause where everyone in the country has a responsibility – starting with parents, schools, and communities. Universal parenting programs, safe schools, access to justice seem like common sense but they are not, she said.
“The Ramon Magsaysay Award has made me realize how much people care and that I am not alone. I am humbled and appreciative [of this recognition],” she said.
Yang also moderated the question-and-answer portion.
Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT) performed excerpts from the Bicolano epic “Ibalon (The Love of Handyong and Oryol),” which opens the 37th season of the dance the company at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati City in July – with shows on July 28 and 29 at 8 p.m.
Sponsored by Diamond Hotel Philippines, PLDT Smart, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation and PBT, the event was also graced by Miss Universe 1973 and Cultural Center of the Philippines President Margie Moran.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/05/14/the-sunday-times/filipino-champions/filipina-ceo-circle-fetes-lone-ph-magsaysay-awardee