Mariano Marcos
State University

Rotary Club of Laoag Sunshine, MMSU team up for medical-dental community service in Laoag

By Jareason Fabre

Nearly 200 residents of Barangay 33A La Paz Proper, Laoag City, received free medical and dental services on September 11 as the Rotary Club of Laoag Sunshine (RCLS) and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) joined forces to bring essential healthcare to the community.

The outreach, dubbed “ALAGA: Advancing Local Access to General Health and Assistance – Medical and Dental Community Health Service,” mobilized 66 volunteers from MMSU and RCLS, including faculty members, staff, and students from the College of Medicine (COM), College of Dentistry (COD), and College of Health Sciences (CHS), with support from the Extension Directorate, Health and Wellness Directorate (HWS), the MMSU Rotaract Club, and the Medical Student Council of COM. Community officials also helped facilitate the event.

MMSU President Virgilio Julius P. Manzano Jr., who concurrently serves as RCLS President, expressed appreciation to the volunteers, reflecting their Rotarian spirit of “service above self” and being “people of action.”

Lead organizer, COM Dean, and Rotarian Dr. James Patrick Peralta also thanked the volunteers and the barangay for hosting the medical and dental mission. COD Dean and Rotarian Dr. Artemio Licos, Jr., Extension Director, Dr. Marlowe Aquino, and HWS Director, Dr. Maria Theresa Rasos, likewise expressed their appreciation to their colleagues for supporting the university’s community service engagement, anchored on “Comprehensive Community Service” in the SUCCEED Agenda.

Student volunteers from the College of Dentistry provided fluoride applications to children aged 2 to 11 and distributed dental kits to promote proper oral hygiene. Dentists also offered free tooth extractions and other minor dental procedures with support from the Philippine Dental Association–Ilocos Norte Chapter.

Meanwhile, medical doctors provided free consultations and medicines. Faculty members from the College of Health Sciences (CHS), headed by Dr. Cheryll Didi Nellie Obra, helped organize the medical component, with the Department of Pharmacy primarily handling the distribution of medicines. The medicines were donated by the Provincial Health Office and the Drugstores Association of the Philippines–Ilocos Norte Chapter.

Adding a lighter touch to the day’s activities, the Rotarians also treated beneficiaries to free ice cream and facilitated fun games.

Barangay Chair Rommel Asuncion thanked the MMSU community and the Rotary Club of Laoag Sunshine for bringing much-needed medical and dental services to residents of the community.

Through the joint effort in the collaboration, ALAGA embodied the spirit of “bayanihan” by bringing essential health services directly to the community and extending care to those who need it most.