Every year, the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines serve tens of thousands of visually impaired patients at its eye hospital in Sta. Mesa, Manila and medical missions in the provinces and abroad. Its volunteer doctors and healthcare staff, some from abroad, do the service for free in line with the humanitarian cause of Tzu Chi founder, Dharma Master Cheng Yen of Taiwan. Giving cash and kind support to the cause are various donors, including companies, other foundations and Tzu Chi chapters in other countries.
“Master Cheng Yen put into action the main teachings of the Buddha: kindness, compassion, joy and giving. The best example of this is our Buddhist Tzu Chi Eye Center,” according to Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines CEO and volunteer Alfredo Li.
“Master Cheng Yen and I provided the best facilities, the best equipment, the best doctors, and the best medicine for our less privileged brothers and sisters in the Philippines, regardless of religion. Eighteen years since the Tzu Chi Eye Center was established, its commitment to serve with love and heal with kindness remains steadfast,” Li said.
Medical missions
Among the highlight activities of the foundation in 2025 are the medical missions for residents of Dagupan City in Pangasinan, for firefighters and traffic enforcers in Metro Manila, and for employees of private companies in Navota City, Quezon City, and Batangas and Zambales provinces.
In May, TCEC volunteers also conducted a medical mission in Takeo Province, Cambodia. Assisting them were medical teams from Tzu Chi, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia. The Filipino volunteers conducted 108 operations for cataract pterygium from 31 May to 1 June. Another 107 patients benefited from free eye consultations.
In April, the Department of Social Welfare and Development recognized the TCEC’s contribution in safeguarding the health of residents and personnel of the Haven for the Elderly in Tanay, Rizal. Its senior residents were the beneficiary of TCEC’s surgical outreach program.
Glaucoma donors
Meanwhile, donations from various individuals and groups supported TCEC glaucoma patients with their needed regular diagnostic tests, eyedrop medications and surgical procedures. On the occasion of World Glaucoma Week (WGW), a pharmaceutical company that has been providing discounts on their products to TCEC donated glaucoma eyedrop medicines as a way of giving back to the community after realizing that the clinic helps 100 patients each day. The medicines are continuously needed by the treated patients.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Visual Sciences (UWM-DVS) in the United States also donated minimally invasive glaucoma stains.
“The work that’s being done here to help prevent blindness in these patients has been incredible. This collective dedication and benevolence have been giving thousands of glaucoma patients from low-income families a fighting chance against this eye condition,” said UWM-DVS representative and glaucoma specialist Dr. Christine Larsen,
Public lectures
TCEC launched a series of health education lectures for the public starting in February, in partnership with Cardinal Santos Medical Center and Cardinal Medical Charities Foundation (CMCF). The seminars were about diseases that affect the Filipino people.
TCEC medical director Dr. Antonio Say said, “We expand our project to advocacy like heart problem and next we go to other conditions in the body — Parkinsonism and epilepsy — and later on probably on gastroenterology and other diseases.”
CMCF offered complimentary consultations, screenings and diagnostic procedures for the seminar participants.
In March, TCEC observed WGW with a lecture to raise awareness on the debilitating eye disease of glaucoma, which the World Health Organization ranked as the fourth leading cause of moderate to severe vision impairments in 2023.
The generosity of Tzu Chi extends beyond free medical services. In July, a TCEC team turned over a newly-renovated home to a couple in Rosario, Cavite. Galileo Garcia’s sight was fading from cataract while his long-time partner, Marietta’s health was also declining. Their misery was compounded by the leaking roof of their dilapidated house. TCEC doctors removed Garcia’s cataract while volunteers and staff renovated his house.
The couple expressed deep gratitude to Tzu Chi’s assistance.
“We can sleep well now,” Garcia said.