INAUGURAL ADDRESS
BY CRISTINA P. MAGNO,MD,FPPS,MPH
JUNE 6,2010 BELLEVUE HOTEL ,ALABANG

Dr. Genesis Rivera, our national president of the Philippine Pediatric Society,Inc.,Dr. Melinda Atienza,our national vice –president, Dr. Vilma Diez,PHO 2 of Cavite, Dr. Cecile Francisco PHO1 of Cavite, Dr. George Repique PHO 1 of Cavite, to our PPS-STC Past Presidents ,to the outgoing and incoming PPS-STC Officers and Board , fellow pediatricians and child health advocates , ladies and gentlemen,
GOOD AFTERNOON.

I find it a big task speaking in front of you today for my inaugural address as your 16th PPS-Southern Tagalog Chapter President, your representative to the PPS ,Inc for the next two years. I never dreamed of becoming a PPS –STC president since I know that it is a gargantuan task to lead the biggest chapter of PPS now at 343 board certified pediatricians and still growing to date.

I have been the assistant secretary of Dra. Julie Debuque and then to Dr. Benny Atienza and then the secretary of Dr. Made Sosa. I was happy working for PPS-STC to get the work done as ordered by my President. It is easy to be a active follower than to be a leader. I must admit that among the outgoing officers ,I was the only officer who held these positions for the longest time-in short, I mean Senior in terms of working experience but not by age. Such that when Dra. Belle Kalaw,our vice-president was afflicted with colon cancer in 2008 and the Quezon group would just accept the vice-presidency but not to be the subsequent president-I was afraid this task will be placed upon my hands .

I was full of hesitancy and there were times for the past two years Dr. Riz Gonzalez and I were talking that 2008-2010 would be out last year serving as part of the PPS-STC Board of Trustees. Thanks to our dedicated PPS-STC treasurer ,Dra Rowena Pua,who touched our hearts and conscience with these endearing statement for us-“ Kung di-kayo magtitiyaga sa society natin , sino pa?” . So here we are tasked to serve the PPS-Southern Tagalog Chapter for next two years…and I think and feel that it should not stop there . Being a member of the society , it is our duty to support and uphold the society as long as we live as pediatricians –a child health advocate of the Southern Tagalog Region.

So what’s in store for us for the next two years?

Last May 20, our PPS President , Dr. Genesis Rivera presented to the incoming board his flagship program for the next two years . Our chapter’s mission and vision are synchronized with the national PPS,Inc’s Mission and Vision. (show these in slides).

The initial Child Advocacy proposals of the incoming board as discussed last May 20 are as follows:
1)PPS-STC Poison Contol Center – a web based program to be used only by PPS-STC members. This will be incorporated in our website –ppsstc.com and could only be accessed by our members through a password. We hope to generate a
Multi-center research paper on the common childhood poisonings in our chapter and what other child advocacy project we can have to curb the rise of poisoning.
Further fine tuning will be discussed in the part 2 of our strategic planning within this month.

2)PPS-STC Child Protection Unit per region/province to be coordinated with government organizations .Specifically for the underprivileged children :
Children in conflict with the law, abused children, underaged or child workers,etc.

3)Adolescent Modules for the different schools as started during Dr. Julie Debuque’s term with a foresight of having ‘Teen Pregnancy Clinic” in adopted barangays hopefully in cooperation with POGS-STC. The main objective of this project is to avoid succeeding pregnancies and provide follow-up care for the pregnant teens even post-natally.

4) Continuation of the Pedia sa Barangay started by Dr. Lapak which was started at Los Banos,Laguna through Dr. Alvin Isidoro. This child advocacy project was renamed as “ Pedia para sa Barangay plus or PPS B+- to encompass the pediatrician members participation in adopted health units and possibly aim to have livelihood program to assure of the continuity of the project in the said unit.

5)And not to forget , further propagation of the Bulilit Health Workers program to other Southern Tagalog regions ..i.e Quezon or even Island Provinces.

Further deliberation for what is feasible and sustainable by our chapter will be discussed in the part 2 of the strategic planning on July 18 by the board.

CONTINUING PEDIATRIC EDUCATION monthly will still be rotated to the different regions as per PPS-STC initiative and topics are hopefully in accordance with the Department of Health’s schedule . Roving subspecialty modules/lectures by our own PPS-STC subspecialists will be brought to the MIMAROPA ,our Island Provinces through active linkages with our Island representatives . You may have noticed that sponsorship for our CPEs are getting harder as well as conceptualization of topics are difficult to attract your CPE participation. I beg each one of you to attend the CPE as much as possible to meet the required CPE units, not just for your philhealth accreditation needs but for our pediatric education advancement as well.

CPE activities in the form of postgraduate courses/conventions in cooperation with other societies are in the pipeline. For October is the Newborn Screening Society’s Convention on October 1,2010 to be held at SMX .
Come January 16-18,2011 will be with the Society of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City and on February 2011 will be in cooperation with DLSUMC pediatric postgraduate course in tandem with the 31st anniversary of PPS-STC.

I can proudly say that PPS-STC was ahead by two years with the current PPS flagship project of computerization and chapter website provision to our members .
As promised, our CME activities will be broadcasted through the internet using skype,or Yahoo messenger or USTREAM to enable our colleagues who can not come to group themselves in their region and listen and participate live through the internet starting next month. We are in the age of cyberpediatrics and as such, I urge you for your volunteerism in updating for what’s up in PPS and PPS-STC through our website and through our text brigade. Or just through your usual hospital rounds acquaintances with our fellow PPS-STC members-this I call our PPS-STC camaraderie.

Most members data files (85%) are now in digital format for those who have updated through the new members data form two years ago. For those who have not, please approach our secretary and fill up the updated form . We need to do this to update our membership listing for submission to PPS National as to who are active and in good standing and for your reclassification of membership status later. Attendance to CPE will soon be through biometrics as per PPS advise .

We hope to be more active in our MSPREST activities for pediatric residency training programs for the now four pediatric residency training institutions-DLSUMC in Cavite, UPHMC in Laguna, Batangas Regional Hospital and Mary Mediatrix Hospital in Batangas .We hope to promote research activities not only through the residents but the members as well.

Colleagues, fellow pediatricians and my friends… please participate and attend not only for our CPE activities but with our Child Advocacy , Community Services and Research activities of our PPS-Southern Tagalog Chapter.

The task as being your 16th PPS-STC president is overwhelming , but through your cooperation , help , active participation and partnership for these projects and activities and with the guidance of our Lord , they will be a reality. “Hindi ko po magagawa ang lahat ng ito kung wala po kayo. Sa tulong niyo ,ang tagumpay po ng PPS-STC ay magmumula sa bawat isa sa atin.”…MARAMING SALAMAT PO!