Kevin Robert L. So (莊啟明) of CKS high school batch 2006 and Bachelor of Science in Nursing, college batch 2011 has been working as a Triage nurse at the Hoag Medical Group in Irvine, California since 2017. As a COVID medical frontliner, his main role is to triage phone calls for patients who have symptoms and determine urgency in terms of the patients' condition. Aside from that, he also makes recommendations for escalation of patients' care and provides medical advice in treating symptoms. He also sees patients in the office for follow-up purposes.

Nowadays, the biggest challenge of his job is the sudden surge in the volume of sick patients who wanted to be seen and tested, and the increasing number of anxious patients needing some form of reassurance.

As a practitioner of the medical industry in the United States, Kevin strictly follows safety guidelines set forth by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including hand washing for at least 20 seconds, using hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol in case water and soap is not available, not touching his eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and physical distancing of at least six feet away from other people. Lastly, he stays at home as much possible and only goes out for work or groceries.

Though already an American citizen, Kevin still misses life in the Philippines, mainly because of good times spent with his friends and schoolmates at CKS College, where he reminisce the sense of belongingness, and learned important values such as equality for all and compassion.

Continue doing your best, Kevin Robert L. So. Your CKS College family is proud of your continuing journey!

Retired swim team coach Enrico Sy (施能斌), his wife Saw Kwan Wong (王秀君), and their children who are all CKS high school alumni, Newton Gan (施純誠) of batch 1999, current swimming coach Lawton Sy (施純發) of batch 2002, and Barton Sy, Ph.D. (施純達) of batch 2005, through their family business Tat Sing Group, and in partnership with Kelvin C. Chan (陳垠誠) of batch 2011, chairman of YCO Holdings, donated to the city of Manila two (2) high-pressure misting cannon e-trike system, which is currently well-used by the city government in its disinfection operations all around Manila. They also turned-over 10 units of 20-liter 100% isopropyl alcohol.

The group is also launching their Bayanihan project “Para sa Kapakanan, Kalusugan ng Kapwa Pilipino”. This KKK-themed project will result in the donation of six (6) units of fully-equipped portable COVID-19 testing booth, which will be very useful in combatting the pandemic in the city of Manila and can be deployed to various barangays and quarantine sites. Each testing booth is made from sturdy alloy 6061 main body frame with 10mm tempered glass enclosures. In addition, each unit is set at negative pressure ventilation system with UV-C light disinfectant to ensure the safety of the health workers.

To the SY family and Kelvin Chan, you are shining examples of living with the true CKSian spirit!

Dr. Regina Lim Chua (蔡金金) of CKS high school batch 1995 is an OB-GYN and Lactation consultant at the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center since 2007.

Since the community quarantine was enforced, she has not been able to hold private clinic inside and outside the hospital, and consultations have been coursed through facebook messenger and viber. Related to it, there is a difficulty monitoring the course of pregnancy of her patients through virtual means, since most required laboratory and diagnostic workups are delayed, sometimes even not facilitated.

But still, she reports to Chinese General Hospital to deliver newborn babies, while wearing PPEs, avoiding skin contact, and observing proper hand hygiene all the time to avoid getting herself, her patients and their babies infected with all forms of viruses.

Doc Regina is thankful to CKS College for nurturing her to be patient and persevering, and to be composed, calm, and orderly in everything she does. These traits have so far kept her and her family safe from harm.

Meticulous as it may seem, Doc Regina disinfects herself and her clothing immediately before she alights from her vehicle. She disinfects again before entering her home, bathes with antiseptic wash, and maintains distance from her loved ones, no matter how hard it is especially with her little kids.

While she can always hibernate from work for now as an OB-GYN due to the risks of COVID-19, but being a professional that she is, Doc Regina finds it difficult to say no, be it to her old and new patients, to her colleagues who ask for help, and to other people who ask for virtual consultations.

She believes that during crucial times like this, everyone - not only doctors but whatever profession they embark on, must always maintain good morals, professionalism, patience, and perseverance.

Dr.Regina Lim Chua, your CKS College is truly proud of you!

Going to six different hospitals as part of a physician's work schedule is definitely not an easy thing to do, but Dr. Mark Lester Santos Sy (李輝鏞) of CKS high school batch 2002 just does that, amidst these times when COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Metro Manila.

Doc Mark specializes in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy, and is an active consultant at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, the Perpetual Help Medical Center, Alabang Medical Center, Las Pinas General Hospital, The MegaClinic, and a visiting consultant at the East Avenue Medical Center.

Nowadays, one of the difficulties encountered by Doc Mark is the much heavier workload than what is usual, since a lot of doctors and hospital staff are undergoing quarantine. The responsibility of checking and seeing the patients rest on those who are not quarantined and, of course, that involves leaving home earlier and coming home much later than usual. With the community quarantine, all clinic appointments are cancelled and it becomes harder for patients to do follow-ups. Because of this, Doc Mark ends up doing phone consultations, which is different from being able to examine the patients face-to-face and on a more personal level.

At the moment, Doc Mark treats every new patient as if they’re already infected with the COVID virus until they tested otherwise, so he always wears the proper PPE, stick to infection control protocol, and exercise effective hand hygiene. And since out-patient clinics and elective endoscopy procedures are cancelled, he still wears complete PPEs to make sure he is protected effectively if he needs to do emergency endoscopy procedures.

He also points out to the difficulty of wearing PPEs, how it really takes time to put on, take off, and properly disinfect. This adds up to more time allotted for each patient compared to before.

Doc Mark recalls the long road to his field of specialization. After high school, it took him 8 years to just complete a Doctor of Medicine degree, plus another 8 years to finish specialty training and one more year of international training to be an expert in the field. He attributes CKS College for equpping him with the wisdom and determination to finish it all and be the man he is today.

He proudly stated: "Especially during these trying times, my alma mater prepared me with the perseverance and courage to keep going on. And despite the health risks, a sense of responsibility and service to my patients is what always comes first – and these are traits and values that were instilled and developed in me that I attribute to my time in Chiang Kai Shek College.

When asked how he feels about the current situation, he said: "I always believe that character counts when duty calls. Needless to say, I am worried about my personal health and my family’s health, who wouldn’t be, especially knowing that some of my colleagues already got infected or even worse. But all the years of studying, the blood, sweat, and tears that we have put into this profession have led us here. This is what we healthcare professionals have trained and signed up for. Yes, the risks and the danger of serving are there, but if not us, then who will?"

In parting, Doc Mark is requesting CKSians and concerned citizens to continue showing support to the medical frontliners by donating much-needed PPEs or food, for which he left his mobile number (+63917-5958782) publicly to those who would like to share.

He ended by saying: "This pandemic proves that you can have a positive impact on the community no matter who you are or where you’re from. As I do my duty as a physician, please also do your part by following social distancing guidelines, community quarantine implementation, and proper hand hygiene. Together, we can overcome COVID-19!"

Our knight in shining armour, Dr. Mark Lester Sy. Your CKS College family is truly proud of you!

Dr. Sharlene A. Dizon (楊雅玲) of CKS high school batch 2008 is a third year medical resident at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in Greenhills, San Juan.

With the number of COVID-19 positive cases rising and with no vaccines nor medicines available for now, Doc Sharlene believes controlling the spread of the COVID virus and having everyone doing their part make the situation quite challenging. She is also worried on seeing a lot of people being unmindful and not properly observing the guidelines for community quarantine, rather than finding her job itself difficult, as she considers each day at work a new learning experience. She feels that the job of healthcare workers like her has become even more complicated since they are not just caring for the sick; they need to protect themselves as well from getting ill to prevent further transmission.

Doc Sharlene considers patience, perseverance, and self-giving, learned from CKS College, as important traits in caring for patients and colleagues.

One sacrifice she had to make during these times was self-quarantine. For fear of bringing the virus to her family, Doc Sharlene decided to stay somewhere near workplace by herself, instead of going home. And part of the difficulty of living away from her family is being homesick and worrying for their health and safety as well.

Doc Sharlene reiterates what most medical experts has been advising: "Stay home, exercise social distancing, and practice hand hygiene. Let us help each other survive this pandemic. Don’t add to the list of positives, be the negative. Stay safe everyone!"

Keep up the good work and stay safe, Dr. Sharlene Dizon. We will win this battle together!

Dr. Jimmy B. Aragon (佘志美) of CKS high school batch 1987 is one of the country's leading endocrinologist, working at the Makati Medical Center since 2003. Makati Medical Center is one of the first hospitals which treated COVID-19 patients in the National Capital Region.

These days, Doc Jimmy is doing rounds of 5 straight days for COVID patients before getting any rest, then go on doing similar rounds again.

Based on his medical observation and experience as an endocrinologist, people with diabetes are more likely to get COVID infection. He didn't realize this until his own patients started getting admitted with pneumonia. During the earlier stages of the outbreak, he got really scared when he checked on a patient without wearing any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), not knowing the patient already had COVID symptoms. Because of it, he had to self-isolate for 14 days to make sure his family won't get infected through him.

Times have changed since then. These days when he reports back to the hospital and check on COVID patients, Makati Medical Center provides adequate PPEs for frontliners. One problem, though, is that supplies are running out fast, especially the N95 masks which are essential protection from the virus.

Doc Jimmy feels exhausted and sweats heavily after his hospital rounds while donning the PPE, but like other doctors, he has no choice since it is a protection gear against getting infected with the virus. But seeing his fellow doctors and nurses wearing those heavy, hot suits for more than 12 hours, even much longer than he does, inspires him to carry on.

Doc Jimmy mentioned that most, if not all, of the healthcare workers "volunteered" to be frontliners, and this reminded him of the volunteerism trait he learned in Chiang Kai Shek College from his Scouting days. It was tempting for him to just ignore the call of duty, especially during the first week of lockdown when there were panic and fear of the unseen enemy. But at the end of the day, the feeling of fulfillment is enough to muster strength to face another day's challenges.

His message to fellow CKSians?

"Healthcare workers are featured as 'heroes' but everyone plays a role in this pandemic. For instance, without the supermarket attendants, how can we buy our food? Even staying home (tough to do especially now with two more weeks extension!) is equally important. By remaining healthy, we help our families and communities stay healthy as well!"

Dr. Jimmy Bautista Aragon, thank you for your service to our country and our fellowmen. Your CKS College family is truly proud of you!