As continuous downpour and floods kept many people at home the past two weeks, more than a thousand mostly senior citizens braved the storm and danger to reach Tzu Chi Eye Center in Sta. Mesa, Manila on 7 August. Blinded by cataracts and other eye complications for years, the free eye consultation offered by the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines was worth attending to finally end their suffering.

Armed with umbrellas and escorted by their loved ones, 1,152 people, including nearly 600 referrals from the GMA Kapuso Foundation and the Quezon City Ladies Foundation Inc., arrived early in the cold and wet morning to register before they were examined and interviewed by the compassionate and dedicated Tzu Chi volunteer doctors and staff. 

There was Binangonan, Rizal resident Eduardo Tan, who was forced to quit driving a jeepney for a living because of cloudy vision, and his wife who also has cataract.

The patients cannot afford to miss the rare opportunity to get healed and see clearly again at no cost. After all, they don’t have the money to pay for the high cost of consultation, laboratory test and surgery.

A complex retina procedure costs P150,000, a prohibitive price tag of for low-income families. Tzu Chi offered surgery while mandatory laboratory tests and medical clearances were shouldered by the other foundations.

Some of the attendees came for a follow-up check-up of their earlier operation at the facility like Herminio Peningolo. He brought along a Tzu Chi coin bank filled with his savings, which will help the center treat more patients.

Pastor Balbuena carried his PWD wife, Concepcion, into the Eye Center. He was a former patient who underwent cataract surgery at the center in 2024 and is currently provided by the foundation with a supply of glaucoma medication.

“Glaucoma medication is far too expensive, but Tzu Chi continues to support me to this day. Without this Foundation, I don’t know where I would find the funds for my treatments,” Balbuena said.

The clinic’s 12 volunteer doctors served all patients from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Cataracts accounted for the highest number of surgical cases at 363 patients, followed by 25 pterygium procedures, 19 retinal cases, and various other eye treatments. The Tzu Chi Medical Foundation committed to helping the patients requiring surgical intervention using the top-of-the-line equipment at the Eye Center.

With Marithel Valiente