Sisters act

Mu Sigma Phi Sorority, the largest and the most acclaimed medical sorority in Asia, is celebrating this year its milestone 90th with a bevy of activities that foster sisterhood built on a common mission for the community.

As a nod to the beauty and might of the feminine experience, “Likha: Cradle of Womanhood”, a benefit art auction, will be held on 8 September at the Henry Sy Sr. Medical Sciences Building of the University of the Philippines Manila.

It will feature pieces by the country’s most highly regarded artists, such as National Artist Abdulmari Imao and the Father of Philippine Glass Sculpture Ramon Orlina.

Open to the public, the exhibition will take its viewers to a sensory journey, where opuses of up-and-coming artists are also front and center.

Guests will also have the opportunity to take the works of art home, with a portion of the proceeds going to the sorority’s 90th-anniversary beneficiary: the Philippine General Hospital-Child Protection Unit.

The PGH-CPU, widely acknowledged as a focal point in the national network of child protection units, has been providing a coordinated and comprehensive array of medical, legal, social and mental-health services for victims of child abuse and neglect, as well as their families.

Led by Ramon Magsaysay Award-winning pediatrician and child advocate Dr. Bernadette Madrid (who is also a peer at Mu Sigma Phi), the PGH-CPU has provided safe havens for over 27,600 Filipino children throughout its history.

The sorority’s tireless efforts as a champion of children’s rights have been emulated by other institutions devoted to the welfare of children.

Equally worth noting is the sorority’s Project Promise, which has been empowering mothers in their role in the family and society through a book and fieldwork in the communities.

Mu Sigma Phi will also hold its 90th anniversary ball in December to celebrate almost a century of unwavering sisterhood, service, scholarship and leadership, and the sorority’s enduring values and contributions over the years.

The sorority was established in 1934 by seven visionary women of UP Manila College of Medicine to fortify connections, foster scholarly excellence and cultivate self-denying service.

Despite the turbulence and challenges of the 1930s and 1940s, the sorority established the Mu Sigma Phi Charity Medical Bag, the Mu Sigma Phi Eye Bank, the Mu Sigma Phi Blood Bank, and the Mu Sigma Phi Drug Bank, all of which operate to this day.

The sorority continued to grow and innovate, developing projects such as Brainstorm, an inter-medical school quiz competition founded in 1991.

Since the 90s, Mu Sigma Phi has been consistently sweeping awards ceremonies as a beacon of medical excellence and unwavering dedication to public service.

Mu Sigma Phi Sorority is the stronghold of two national scientists, two cabinet secretaries, three chancellors of the UP Manila, four deans of the UP College of Medicine, and the only female director of the Philippine General Hospital.

It has proudly produced over 1,600 pioneering female physicians.