The trip from Mapun, Tawi-Tawi, to southern Palawan takes hours across open water, often through rough seas. For Dhevina Tutuh, the journey was worth the risk.
“People used to say my child was not normal. As a mother, that worried me day and night,” Tutuh said.
Tutuh and her daughter Marina traveled about 15 hours by sea to reach the municipality of Bataraza after seeing a social media post announcing a free medical and surgical mission organized by Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. through the RTN Foundation Inc. The mission offered consultations and operations for patients who otherwise have little access to specialized care.
Marina was born with a cleft lip. She was among 289 patients served during the latest outreach conducted by the foundation in partnership with Coral Bay Nickel Corp.
“When I saw the post about the free surgery, I immediately asked if my child could be treated,” Tutuh said in the Mapun dialect. “Even though we came from far away in Mapun, Tawi-Tawi, and it was just the two of us traveling in the rain, I did everything I could to get here. I only want my child to grow up without being looked down on by others.”
Mapun, an island municipality in Tawi-Tawi province, sits closer to Sabah, Malaysia, than to mainland Palawan. Reaching Bataraza requires hours aboard a lansta, a small boat used for inter-island travel. Waves between island provinces in the southern Philippines can make the trip difficult, particularly during bad weather.
Still, patients from remote islands regularly undertake similar journeys to reach the mission site.
Volunteer doctors from Medical Mission to Heaven and Adventist Medical Center Manila led consultations and surgeries during the five-day outreach, held from March 2 to 6. Sixty-three volunteers — including surgeons, nurses and medical interns — participated.
Dr. Mendelssohn Manalaysay, a volunteer oral and maxillofacial surgeon, said the work carries both professional and personal meaning.
“It is gratifying both spiritually and professionally,” Manalaysay said. “When I see my patients — especially those with cleft lip and cleft palate — and witness the gratitude of their parents, I feel deeply thankful to God. Through this mission and the support of Nickel Asia, we have been able to help people in Rio Tuba, across Palawan, and even beyond.”
In addition to cleft lip and palate procedures, doctors treated patients with a range of surgical conditions, including goiter, hernia, gallstones, hemorrhoids, myoma, ovarian cysts, uterine bleeding, lipoma, sebaceous cysts and ganglion cysts.
Maria Julia Cabusao Villanueva, a volunteer nurse, said she was struck by the determination of patients traveling from distant communities.
“This is my first time volunteering in the RTN Foundation medical mission, and it is inspiring to see patients coming from different villages just to receive free medical care,” Villanueva said. “Many of the children are excited because they know they will finally get the treatment they need.”
Organizers said the mission routinely draws patients from remote parts of Palawan and neighboring island provinces, highlighting the persistent gaps in access to hospitals and specialists in rural areas of the Philippines.
Now in its 23rd year, the program continues to bring surgical services directly to communities where such procedures are rarely available.
“We are grateful to the volunteers from Medical Mission to Heaven who continue to bring this mission to the southernmost part of Palawan,” said Reynaldo Dela Rosa, assistant vice president for community relations at Nickel Asia Corp. and executive director of RTN Foundation Inc. “We would not have been able to do this without them.”
The outreach traces its roots to 1990, when Rio Tuba Nickel Mining began conducting medical missions for communities near its operations in southern Palawan. Over time, the program expanded through the support of RTN Foundation and Coral Bay Nickel.
Nickel Asia Corp., the parent company of Rio Tuba Nickel Mining and the RTN Foundation, is the Philippines’ largest producer of lateritic nickel ore.
For Tutuh, the mission brought something far more immediate than corporate outreach or volunteer service — relief.
After Marina’s surgery, she said she no longer has to worry about the condition that once kept her awake at night.
“Thank you very much to the doctors and to everyone at RTNFI and CBNC,” Tutuh said. “My heart is truly happy now; it will no longer be painful for me to see my child in that condition because she has finally undergone surgery.”
