On Day Of Valor, ‘Pay Tribute To Health Workers, Frontliners And Other Modern-day Heroes’

Alexis Romero, Sheila Crisostomo

April 9, 2020

Filipinos are encouraged to express their gratitude to health workers and other frontliners who lead the battle against coronavirus disease 2019 by applauding them every afternoon starting today, April 9, the Day of Valor.

From donating personal protective equipment to giving them a salute at checkpoints, Filipinos have been paying tribute and giving back to health workers and other frontliners during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

These are done either by individuals, groups or companies separately.

Beginning today, April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor, Filipinos are encouraged to express their gratitude to health workers and other frontliners by applauding them every afternoon – a fitting gesture of appreciation for modern-day heroes.

“It is only appropriate… (that) we honor all of them with a simple gesture of gratitude that we hope to carry on for the duration of the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine),” Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases spokesman and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, April 8.

“Every day, beginning (Thursday), we urge our countrymen to go to their doorways or their windows to applaud the medical workers, police, military, (skeleton) work forces from the private and private sectors, LGU (local government units) employees distributing relief goods, and the members of the media,” he added.

Nograles noted the simultaneous applause for frontliners would be held every 5 p.m.

Nograles urged those who want a more modern approach to “share videos via Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.”

“You can sing or dance for our frontliners so we can show them our love while spreading good vibes in these challenging times.”

Araw ng Kagitingan, which coincides with Maundy Thursday this year, is commemorated every April 9.

The commemoration is usually held at the Mount Samat National Shrine or Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valor) in Pilar, Bataan. The complex was built to honor Filipino and American troops who fought the numerically superior Japanese forces in Bataan during World War II in 1942.

“The people expect much from our frontliners. We won’t get tired of saying that they are true heroes. They are our real-life heroes, our real-time heroes,” Nograles said.

Medical doctors

According to the Philippine Medical Association, the country has lost 17 doctors as of March 31 as hospitals were overwhelmed and medics complained about the inadequacy of protective equipment on the front lines.

The death toll continues to rise. The Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City recently lost Dr. Mary Grace Lim to the disease.

“We have lost one of our own in the fight against this pandemic,” Asian Hospital said in a statement on April 6, extolling Lim “as a great patient safety advocate… (who) has affected and helped countless lives in her wonderful journey.”

“Asian Hospital, especially the Department of Emergency Medicine and Quality Management Department may have lost a great frontliner to COVID-19, but as one family, we promise her and our countrymen, now more than ever, that we will remain unfazed and will keep on fighting to finally put an end to this pandemic,” the statement added.

Another hero is Dr. Leandro Resurreccion, a pediatric transplant surgeon from the Philippine General Hospital. He died on March 31 due to acute respiratory failure arising from COVID-19 complications.

Resurreccion, 57, was head of the Pediatric Surgery Division of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. Dennis Tudtud, an oncologist in Cebu also succumbed to COVID-19 on March 31, four days after his wife Helen – who was also a doctor – died of the disease.

A daughter of Dr. Marcelo Jaochico, who served in the barrios and was provincial health officer of Pampanga, wrote an emotional message for her father on Facebook after he succumbed to COVID-19 on March 24.

Other frontliners have managed to win the battle, like Dr. Newell Nacpil, head of the Division of Critical Care at the Lung Center of the Philippines.

At age 72, Dr. Antonio Garcia also believes it is not yet time to retire, even with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading and claiming the lives of health workers in the country.

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Here are some of the other ways Filipinos have been paying tribute to health workers and other frontliners during the pandemic:

#INeedARide: Refusing to be bystanders, some people respond to calls for transportation

From P20 to millions, digital platforms used for donations amid COVID-19 pandemic

The doctor is online: Physicians offer free services to decongest hospitals

Thermal drones, rapid pass: Tapping technology to decongest checkpoints

This man waits in line for hours to do grocery shopping for others

Test kits, 3D-printed face shields, sugar alcohol: Phl universities help fight COVID-19

Want to help PUV drivers, street vendors? Connect with them via SuperTsuper, #PasokMgaSuki