The Philippine Red Cross-Bohol Chapter is successful in its project recently launched. The project conducts a blood donation campaign here in the province with a Red Cross-Bohol team led by its chief medical technologist Jay Quimson.
The blood letting activity, conducted on May 29, was held in the municipality of Catigbian. This project is ably supported by the Catigbian LGU under Mayor Elizabeth Mandin Pace and its Municipal Health Officer Dr. Eldrin Mascariñas. A total of 12,150cc of donated blood was collated from Catigbian during the project.
After Catigbian, the team proceeded to the municipality of Trinidad on June 10 with Mr. Quimson, Cynthia Rabuya and Angelito Rosales. A total of 16,200 cc of donated blood was collated from this town. The Trinidad team was able to get the full support of LGU Trinidad led by Mayor Judith Del Rosario-Cajes and by its MHO, Dr. Analita Auza.
Another mini-blood donation activity was held at the residence of Mrs. Fancy S. Baluyot in Tagbilaran City on June 17. Baluyot is the Director of the Blood Services Program of Red Cross-Bohol, The Red Cross-Bohol team spearheaded by Quimson set up two cots at Baluyot’s residence and extracted blood from two well-meaning private citizen-donors in the persons of Atty. Mara Ruiz and her sibling Lorenzo Ruiz. The two are recipients of the prestigious Blood Galloner Award from the Philippine Red Cross.
It is not easy to get a Galloner Award from the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), as the award name indicates, one must have donated a total of one gallon of blood. This is a challenge, considering that the maximum amount allowed per blood extraction is 450cc, and that a minimum of eight weeks is required between extractions. The two Ruiz sibling donors are blood galloner awardees since they have donated blood countless times in the past and are regularly donating blood to the red cross every 3 months.The Ruiz siblings are full-blooded Boholanos who have shown their warm concern thru sharing life-saving precious blood especially needed in these times when we are all in the midst of a terrifying global pandemic. Both donors are the children of Boholana pediatrician Dr. Mary Ann Ruiz and husband, Philippine Army Gen. Ramon Ruiz.
The Blood Galloner Award is part of the Blood Donor Recognition Program of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), which instituted different awards to recognize and thank individuals and different groups who untiringly help it attain its mission. Blood Galloner pins, certificates, medals and plaques are some of the tokens the PRC gives out during its annual Blood Donors’ Recognition Ceremony held every month of July in celebration of the Blood Donors’ Month.
These series of most recent blood donation activities by the Red Cross-Bohol were initiated by joint efforts of Bohol’s 1st District Representative Edgar M. Chatto, who is also the Red Cross-Bohol chairman of its Board of Directors; together with Honorary Chairman Governor Arthur Yap, the honorary chairman, Red Cross-Bohol Administrator Mrs. Merlinda-Batoy; chapter Director Dr. Mary Ann Ruiz, and chapter blood services director Fancy Baluyot, in response to a nationwide call by Philippine Red Cross Chairman Sen. Richard Gordon. Gordon is encouraging the public to donate blood and support the agency’s blood donation drive. The Red Cross-Bohol leadership is encouraging Boholanos to donate blood and help the province in efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.