National Hospital Week 2019

         The Batangas Medical Center celebrated this year’s National Hospital Week on August 5-9, 2019. It was a fully-loaded week, concluded by the roaring success of the Mr. & Ms. Batangas Medical Center pageant.

         The week commenced with the employees gathering at the Flag Ceremony on August 5 to witness the launch of the environment-friendly  projects spearheaded  by the Socials, Sports, Health & Wellness Committee like the Bike-to-Work Project and the Plastic Goes to Scrap-Everyday is Tumbler Day.   A tree-planting activity was supposed to be included in the day’s activity but due to heavy rains,  it was scheduled for another day. 

         The Bike-to-Work project is in support of the Physical and Mental Illness Program, where able employees would go to work using their bicycles on Fridays.  It also  aims to support the Clean Air Act by minimizing the use of fuel thereby lessening the harmful pollutants affecting the environment. This program will also help  promote and maintain a healthy lifestyle among the employees which can result to a positive work productivity. 

         The Plastic-Goes-to-Scrap: Everyday is Tumbler Day Project, on the other hand, aims to minimize the use of single use plastic water bottles in and around the hospital.  BatMC generates hundreds of plastic bottles on a daily basis and the main goal of this project is to encourage everyone, especially the employees, including the patients, to use reusable and refillable beverage bottles to reduce the use of plastic, which is known to take decades to decompose.

         On August 8, 2019,  a lecture by Dr. Fatima Fareda A. Flores of Metro Psych Facility, a graduate of  University of Sto. Tomas Faculty of Medicine & Surgery 1993 gave a lecture on Understanding Depression. It was well-attended, the audience was composed of diverse personalities, teachers,  school supervisors and counselors, friends and our medical and non-medical staff and employees. According to DOH, “In the Philippines, 3.3 million Filipino suffer from depressive disorders, with suicide rates in 2.5 males and 1.7 females per 10,000”. And according to WHO, 800,000 people die each year due to suicide. Depression is indeed a serious and an alarming health condition that needs to be addressed now.

          To  cap the National Hospital week  celebration was the day-long activities on August 9 which started with a Holy Mass celebrated by Msgr. Boy Oriondo.  Food booths were prepared by each division.  The booths served various street foods, grilled goodies and kakanin, nuts and fingerfoods and overflowing drinks, which everybody enjoyed for free.  What followed set  the excitement for the day.  All the five divisions, Ancillary (Rockstar theme), Finance (Cowboy theme), HOPPS (Pirates theme), Medical (Safari theme), and Nursing (Hawaiian theme) adhering to their assigned themes, performed their dance numbers perfectly and set the basketball court on fire.  Despite the rains, the crowd stayed up until the end to cheer on their respective divisions and be a witness to BatMC’s revelation of talents. The judges, Mr. Gener Caringal, Mr. Manrique Cabaya & Ms. Aylene Acorda decision was unanimous. The Nursing Division with their Hawaiian Theme won the Obra Maestra Production Competition as well as the Best Booth category.

          The highlight of the festivities was the Mr. & Ms. Batangas Medical Center Pageant held on the evening of August 9, which everybody  talked about for days. The pageant opened with the five pairs of candidates from different divisions, namely Ancillary, Finance, HOPPS, Medical, and Nursing strutting in their fantabulous theme costumes, amidst the deafening applause and cries of the  audience.  They literally brought the house down as they graced the stage and individually introduced themselves with much spirit and gusto.  The Talent Portion immediately followed which proved that talents indeed abound at BatMC.   Soulful dance routines included a Tinikling number & a Contemporary number but what really stood out was Mr. Julius Petoral’s talent of the Ancilllary Division,  where he recited his own spoken poetry.  He talked about his job as a public servant, the perks and debits of being one, and his emotional performance earned for him the Mr. Talent Award.  The Ms. Talent Award, was given to Ms. Marlyn Eizel Madrigal of the Nursing Division who portrayed an emotional Argentine Tango dance number.

          The last part of the pageant was the Question and Answer Portion which displayed that the chosen candidates not only excelled in beauty and aptitude, but they also are intelligent professionals who can still hold their charm while under pressure. The questions revolved around their roles as government servants and righteous professionals which all candidates answered gracefully and convincingly.

           The night ended with much suspense as the Board of  Judges, Chairman Mr. Eduardo Borbon, Dr. Israel Francis Pargas and Mr. Amado Hagos, all respected individuals in their own fields handed in the list of the winners. It was a thunderous moment as the new Mr. & Ms. BatMC 2019, Dr. JV Tungol of the Medical Division and Ms. Marlyn Eizel Madrigal of the Nursing Division received the much coveted grand champion awards.

List of all the winners:

 MR and MS BATANGAS MEDICAL CENTER 2019

Grand Champion

Dr. Juan Victor M. Tungol of the Medical Division

Ms. Marlyn Eizel A. Madrigal of the Nursing Division

1st Runner Up

Mr. Julius D. Petoral of the Ancillary Division

Dr. Jessie Nostratis of the Medical Division

2nd Runner Up

Engr. Joseph Peter Cepillo of the HOPSS Division

Ms. Raizel A. Magsumbol of the Ancillary Division

Mr. & Ms. Talent

Mr. Julius D. Petoral of the Ancillary Division

Ms. Marlyn Eizel A. Madrigal of the Nursing Division

Mr. & Ms. Photogenic

Dr. Juan Victor M. Tungol of the Medical Division

Ms. Cazsandra Bianca D. Plata of HOPSS Division

Mr. & Ms. Congeniality

Mr. James Louie M. Delica of Nursing Division

Ms. Raizel A. Magsumbol of Ancillary Division

Best in Formal Wear

Dr. Juan Victor M. Tungol of the Medical Division

Ms. Marlyn Eizel A. Madrigal of the Nursing Division

Universal Health Care Choice Award

Medical Division

Represented by:

Dr. Juan Victor M. Tungol

Dr. Jessie Nostratis

SSHW Chairman’s Choice Award

Finance Division

Represented by:

Dr. Jorelle Raien Zaraspe

Ms. Ma. Cristina A. Encinares

Best in Theme Costume

Medical Division

Represented by:

Dr. Juan Victor M. Tungol

Dr. Jessie Nostratis

Best T-shirt Design

Ms. Cristina A. Encinares  

Finance Division