Lemuel John Ornillo shows his 10-month-old son to actor Derek Ramsay, Operation Smile ambassador, as Hope Foundation chairperson Edith Villanueva and Operation Smile executive director Emiliano Romano look on.* Ronnie Baldonado photo
Four-year-old twins who were abandoned by their parents were among the more than 200 indigent children with cleft lip and palate deformities who were screened in Bacolod City on Friday, October 21, for free reconstructive surgery.
Edith Villanueva, Hope Foundation chairperson, said of the more than 200 children who were screened at Robinsons Place, Operation Smile will be able to perform reconstructive surgeries on 60 at the Adventist Medical Center-Bacolod on November 6 to 11.
The other children who were screened will undergo reconstructive surgery during the next Operation Smile mission in the province, she said.
They are unable to conduct as many surgeries in one mission as they did in the past because of COVID-19 protocols, which include RT-PCR tests for the patients and their watchers, and more stringent disinfection after each operation, Villanueva said.
Operation Smile in partnership with Hope Foundation has performed 3,793 free reconstructive surgeries in Negros Occidental and Bacolod since 1988, she said.
The last Operation Smile mission was held in 2019, with a two-year lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, so they are very grateful to be able to bring back the smiles to children with cleft lip and palate deformities as Bacolod celebrates the MassKara Festival with the theme “Balik Yuhum (Bring back the Smiles)”, Villanueva added.
“Balik Yuhum is very significant to us because we also want to bring back the smiles to these children,” she said.
Emiliano Romano, Operation Smile Philippines executive director, said they not only conduct free reconstructive surgery, they also provide the children with speech therapy, dental aid, nutrition consultation, and psychosocial care.
Actor Derek Ramsay, Operation Smile Ambassador, and his wife, Ellen Adarna, also met with the children being screened and their parents.
Ramsay, who has been part of Operation Smile for more than a decade, said cleft palate deformities are a big problem in the Philippines.
“Seeing these kids transform (after surgery) is a wonderful feeling”, he said, because you can see them gain so much confidence.
They are no longer teased and bullied and have the opportunity for a brighter future, he said, adding that “it is heartwarming”.
Ramsay said he is also in Bacolod for the MassKara Festival, and will be one of the judges during the streetdancing competition on Sunday.
The Ramsays also attended the Masskarade Ball Friday night.
The 4-year-old twins who were screened Friday will both undergo reconstructive surgery in November, Villanueva said.
One for his cleft lip and the other for his palate, she said.
The twins’ aunt Rosalia Aungon, from Don Salvador Benedicto, said she and her husband have been caring for the twins since their parents left when they were a year old.
Her husband is a carpenter and they have three children of their own.
The twins are the children of her husband’s brother.
The father of the twins left for Manila when he was 19 to find a job.
The twins were left in the care of their 15-year-old mother who lived next door, Aungon said.
She said one day they heard the twins crying and discovered that their mother was gone.
Also at the screening area was Lemuel John Ornillo, 31, with his 10-month-old son who needs cleft lip reconstructive surgery.
Ornillo, a meter reader for Central Negros Electric Cooperative, said he has also been a beneficiary of Operation Smile.
He underwent two cleft lip reconstructive surgeries when he was three and four years old and it changed his life. “I gained self-confidence and had a better future”, Ornillo said.
Ornillo said he was seeking Operation Smile’s help for his son because he wants him to have the same chance.
Villanueva thanked the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City governments, Yuhum Foundation, Adventist Medical Center-Bacolod, Philippine Pediatric Society, and the other donors and volunteers supporting Operation Smile.*