the unilab spark: husay at malasakit

Last Updated on July 7, 2017 by Marie Bulatao

Seven years ago, exactly a week after my mom’s funeral, my life imploded. One sunny Friday, just a week after my mom was laid to rest and I was finally accepting the fact that she was gone, my father was rushed to the hospital, barely breathing. I was confronted with the thought that I might become an orphan, losing both parents in a span of two weeks. As I rushed to the ICU to see how he was doing, I was shocked to see him with all the tubes and medical equipment around him. He was unconscious and his skin looked grey. His blood oxygen level was below 75%. He had pneumonia and respiratory distress, which he probably got during those sleepless nights during my mom’s wake. The worst part? I felt so alone. Until I saw Annie, a co-worker. And I felt more alone. Her dad happened to be in the ICU, too, but she had siblings to share her worries with. Me, I just had myself and my husband. My brother, who was based in Japan, cannot come. If something happened to my dad, I would face it alone. I was just starting to grieve for my mom and I was confronted with the fear that I could lose my dad, too. I remember staying in the hospital chapel, praying that everything will be okay. There was a silver lining to my state of grief. My dad pulled through, thanks to the excellence (husay) and compassion (malasakit) of the medical team that looked after him and of course, his unwavering struggle to get better. I was ashamed of myself for “feeling alone”, because overtime, as I was worrying and feeling bad for myself and secretly resenting my brother for not being with me as my dad fought for his life, this amazing medical team was working hard. When my dad thanked the medical team, one of them said,

“We had nothing to do with it. It was all you.”

And she was right. We are all responsible for our own successes. But we can also benefit from a spark, a catalyst. Sometimes, we are programmed to get on track and stay on track. We forget that it is OK to redirect ourselves. Often, though, we need something to push us into action. For me, that weekend when everything fell apart was it. As a nation, various calamities was the spark. The tragedy we experienced as a nation strengthened our solidarity as we stood, hand in hand, determined to rise from the rubbles through excellence and compassion (husay at malasakit).

READ: “I’m Not Spending Enough Time With My Kids”

Unilab, the biggest pharmaceutical company in the Philippines, believes in the power of husay at malasakit.

In every product they produce, they make sure that their facilities and procedures are safe.

Their superior and affordable healthcare products are available all over the country, reaching out to everyone in need. Advances in technology may have automated their processes, but the heart – the love and the concern-poured into the manufacturing of each of their healthcare products will always be present.