Among the Diamond Legacy projects of the Fraternity, Empowerment Through Mobility was organized as an effort to help indigent Filipino patients nationwide who are in dire need of a wheelchair, and who desire to improve their lives despite their physical disabilities. Through a partnership with the international non-profit Christian organization Free Wheelchair Mission (FWM), the Fraternity served as a spark of hope to its potential beneficiaries from Ilocos to Sulu. To date, the Fraternity, through its vast network of members nationwide, has facilitated the distribution of 1650 wheelchairs to different hospitals, health centers, and local government units nationwide. For its third year, another 1100 wheelchairs have been shipped and are planned for distribution to an extended number of cities and municipalities.
As the national budget for health for Filipinos continue to dwindle, it is not a surprise that the health of a significant number of Filipinos continue to deteriorate. Their health concerns, some even unheard of in the developed world, continue to be neglected and still, delivery of excellent health services are only available to a minute fraction of the population. At the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the true face of the country’s health care system is much apparent and very clearly depicted in the numerous patients waiting for their turn to be healed by its doctors. Even when the fees are waived for charity patients, treatment, such as surgery, still cannot be granted because of the lack of resources to procure the necessary supplies and medications.
Conceived in 2008 as part of the fraternity’s flagship projects for its seventy-fifth anniversary, Diamonds in the Rough (DITR) aims to recognize the unsung heroes in the medical field today – the outstanding young doctors serving the depressed, neglected and far-flung communities across the country. This is in line with the college's commitment to ‘community-oriented medical education, directed especially for the underserved’, and our own fraternity’s mission to ‘serve as a bastion of excellence in rendering service to humanity, with Filipinos foremost.’ One each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao were chosen. In fitting ceremonies held on March 3, 2009 at the Century Park Hotel in Manila, Drs. Vietrez Panganiban David-Abella from Luzon, Mennie Cabacang from Visayas, and Afdal Kunting from Mindanao were recognized as this year’s Diamonds in the Rough.
In line with the fraternity’s commitment to give back to the college which has molded its brods into today’s finest doctors, the Phi built the Dela Cruz Student Lounge and the Katigbak Classroom at the 3rd floor of Calderon Hall. The classrooms were named in honor of long-time Department of Anatomy Chair Dr. Mariano V. dela Cruz Φ51, considered the Father of Philippine Anatomy, and past Department of Pathology Chair Dr. Lorenzo S. Katigbak Φ51, pillars of the college’s basic science departments. Moreover, the PHI sponsored two modules at the Multidisciplinary Laboratories at the Paz Mendoza Hall. A wall on one of the modules bears a plaque with the first cardinal virtue of the PHI written on it, ‘A PHI MUST BE A GOOD MEDICAL STUDENT.’
