Dr. Pedro Manzala's noble advocacy

By Ronelo S. Ladiao

For a noble man like Dr. Pedro Manzala , service to the humanity especially to the lost youth in our society is priceless and essential in order to live life to the fullest. He is a practicing medical Obstetrician and Gynecologist by profession, a born leader who remained far from the limelight as the president of the newly-formed Tapikan Association and an agriculturist who loves to cultivate mangoes.

Dr. Pedro Manzala is a prolific doctor who remained humble and simple.

“I was born from a poor family from San Joaquin so I truly did my best to fulfill my dreams and strive hard”, said the prolific medical doctor with so much optimism in his voice. Dr. Manzala was born on July 18, 1953 to Asisclo Manzala , a school principal and Aurora Sapalo-Manzala , a grade school teacher. He is the third child among the four siblings. His eldest brother, Jose Alvah is retired Philippine Navy, second is Giovanni, a lawyer in Manila and his youngest brother Isidro is an architecture graduate.

“I grew up in a very religious family wherein our traditional values were given utmost importance,” he said. Dr. Manzala   finished his grade school at San Joaquin Elementary School , took his high school at Philippine Science High School and earned his BS Zoology degree at the University of the Philippines in Diliman , Quezon City wherein he also pursued his Medical Proper studies focusing on Obstetrics and Gynecology. According to him, his parents tried to send all of his siblings in Manila to study amid their financial difficulties. Soon after his pressuring studies, Dr. Manzala worked in Philippine General Hospital in Manila but since his parents' heart and soul always look back in Iloilo as their native home he decided to be with his parents in their decision to stay here. His medical career started in 1985 up to the present wherein he learned a lot about sharing his wisdom to others and helping people in their sickness especially the welfare of women where his medical expertise is focused . Dr. Manzala started his clinic at St. Paul 's Hospital in the early 90s. He also imparted his wisdom and medical expertise as a prolific part-time instructor at West Visayas State University College of Medicine and involved in the training of residents as part of WVSU Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology department.

“My other interest is in agriculture because I manage a farm where three hectares of land was planted with 400 mango trees and located in the shoreline of Brgy . Tapikan in San Joaquin , Iloilo ,” reveals Dr. Manzala who was also a member of the newly formed Mango Growers Association of Iloilo.

Dr. Pedro Manzala is the President of the newly-formed TAPIKAN Association aiming to empower the youth through arts & skills development.

Presently, Dr. Manzala is the founding president of Tapikan Association, a newly formed association that aims to empower the youth through arts and skills development and provide a venue to attain a noble goal of enhancing their values.

“We always believe in the famous saying of our National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal that the youth is the hope of the fatherland,” he said with utmost confidence. “We envision a society where the youth are free; living harmoniously with others in the spirit of love, respect, and honesty; serving as catalyst of change working towards a humane society, ”   he added.

“Right now, the mission of Tapikan Association is to facilitate youth empowerment through values formation and education by providing a venue for them to recognize their capacity and capability to become functional members of their family and of the community,” Dr. Manzala spoke in a gentle voice. The Tapikan Association will hold “ Lolek ”, a musical play that emulates the life of Pope John Paul II as a way to encourage music and arts to the Ilonggo youth. “ Lolek ” recently held cast audition and will be shown next month via the creative effort of playwright/theatre director Mr. Alan Gatpatan . He is hoping that their noble effort will awaken the interest of the youth to love arts as medium of social change.

But before I ended my sensible conversation to Dr.Manzala , I asked him about his unfulfilled dreams, things that he wish to do and if he truly lived his life to the fullest.

“Well, someday I would love to travel abroad if God permits. I'm a frustrated pianist because I need to set aside my piano lessons when I was young and concentrate in my scholarship opportunity in Manila but I know I live life to the fullest because of my great experiences in my medical career. At the end of the day I achieve it all because I don't plan much. Instead I live by the day and face everything with dedication, hard work and faith in God what comes in my way… this is part of my advocacy to live life with a true purpose”.

(Advocate and dream! email the writer at rslphoenix@yahoo.com)