鈥淪ayang naman.鈥�
Imagine hearing that as a response to 鈥淚 want to be a doctor.鈥� Unusual, right? Now imagine that comment coming from an educator interviewing a 抖阴探探 student who was about to earn his Biology degree, magna cum laude, and was being considered as the 鈥淢ost Outstanding Graduate. Surprising, but perhaps a little less so, when that educator was seemingly more impressed with the leadership qualities the student displayed.
鈥淚 was told I could go into community leadership instead,鈥� an ophthalmologist and a researcher, Dr. Leo Cubillan, recalled that incident in 1986. He had asked himself then why his dream of going into medicine was deemed a waste. He believed the path he saw for himself, especially after four years of studying in 抖阴探探 Diliman (抖阴探探D), would lead him to render greater service to the country.
More than three decades later, he would mark one of the greater milestones in his professional career. In 2019, one of the research projects he led became Republic Act No. 11358 or the National Vision Screening Act. Turning research into national policy showed Cubillan that it was not 鈥渟ayang鈥� after all.
鈥樁兑跆教� shaped me鈥�
At age 16 years, he left Surigao with a National Science and Technology Authority scholarship to pursue his pre-med in 抖阴探探D. His undergraduate days, 1982 to 1986, were not exactly years of peace and quiet. Those turbulent times awakened something in him. 鈥淲hen you see that there are problems that need to be addressed, you also feel compelled to act, in your own way, to try and make change happen.鈥�
Among his many activities, he noted one of his more significant initiatives as councilor of the then Institute of Biological Sciences in the College of Science student council: the proposal of a 鈥減ass or fail鈥� grading system. It stemmed from the recognition that students, even in the middle of social and political turmoil in the country, and with difficulty for faculty members finding it difficult to provide numerical grades, students needed to be able to continue their studies and graduate. And they needed academic marks to do so.
When he went to 抖阴探探 Manila to earn his medical degree, his training at the 抖阴探探 Philippine General Hospital (抖阴探探-PGH) widened even more his view of the country鈥檚 problems. After his External Eye Diseases fellowship in 1996, Cubillan became a university researcher at the Philippine Eye Research Institute (PERI) of the 抖阴探探 National Institutes of Health and a clinical associate professor at the College of Medicine.
Seeking to build up his capabilities as an eye doctor, he went to the US to undergo more training on cornea, uveitis and external eye diseases at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). It was there that he developed a deeper love for research, which strengthened his belief that it was a powerful tool with which to improve the lives of Filipinos.
The dire situation in 抖阴探探-PGH, the issues in health care access he saw, stayed with him. 鈥淚t was always on my mind and I knew I had to somehow do something about it,鈥� he said. That was when he decided to pursue his Master of Public Health at UC Berkeley to 鈥渂etter contribute to the improvement of the Philippine health care system.鈥�
Cubillan could have stayed in the US. There were certainly more lucrative opportunities for him there, especially with his advanced training. But there was no pull for him to remain. Instead, it only pushed him to go back. 鈥淚t was really how 抖阴探探 developed in me that desire to serve, that I should use my abilities and do what I can for my country.鈥�
Envisioning better eye health for Filipinos
Back in PERI, he was involved in the country-wide surveys on blindness and eye diseases. 鈥淲e had population-based studies that we used to help the Department of Health (DOH) in creating national programs to reduce or prevent blindness in the Philippines.鈥� But he was not content with his work. Cubillan, who had become the PERI director in 2011, wanted to do more to address visual impairment at the early stages to prevent conditions from worsening.
鈥淲hat do we know? What can we do?鈥� were the questions he asked himself. Using research data, he knew that in a class of 40 Filipino children, around four would have vision problems. Three might have errors of refraction (EORs)鈥攂lurred vision and inability to focus. This usually manifests as myopia or nearsightedness, where things are clearer up close and more blurred farther away. One of the four affected children, meanwhile, might have amblyopia or lazy eye, where one eye has blurry vision while the other sees clearly. Lazy eye has a prevalence of two to five percent in children and is one of the causes of visual impairment and preventable blindness.
As an ophthalmologist, he knew that myopia in children had a tendency to progress rather quickly, and while influenced by genetics, progression may slow down with early detection and intervention. He also knew that lazy eye would get worse if left untreated, but if caught before a child reached the age of seven, was totally treatable. Vision problems affect how children learn and behave. Some may be able to verbalize the problems they experience, while there are some who are either too shy or scared to speak up.
He realized that vision screening on a national scale was needed if greater impact was to be made on the lives of Filipino children, so that there would be less incidence of visual impairment as they grew older.
As an administrator and project leader, he knew there was a lot of work to be done, from having the appropriate screening tools and a simpler screening process, to mobilizing the resources for training and implementation nationwide. PERI already had a close working relationship with the DOH. It needed to get the Department of Education (DepEd) on board. It found the agency supportive of this initiative, especially with the implementation of the K-12 curriculum, where children may be screened as soon as they start kindergarten as early as the age of five.
From program to national policy
In 2015, PERI formally launched the National Vision Screening Program during its 50th founding anniversary. An age-appropriate, culturally-neutral screening kit was developed. Its tools were simple and easy to use, making training of kindergarten teachers uncomplicated as well.
During pilot runs of the program, teachers and parents of kindergarten students found there really was more than meets the eye in children who appeared inattentive and disruptive in class, resulting in poor academic performance. It turned out that they just could not see clearly. For those with lazy eye, a simple patch on the eye with better vision forced the affected one to develop until vision in both eyes became equal. For nearsighted students, the first step was to move them to the first row. 鈥淚n one of the classes we screened, there was one student who was noisy and would not pay attention to the lesson. When we came back months later, the kid was already top of his class after moving to the front row! Hindi lang pala niya makita nang malinaw yung blackboard.鈥�
The PERI-DOH-DepEd collaboration was strong enough to make partners of both houses of Philippine Congress as well. It may have taken years before the law was passed and signed, but Cubillan was proud that he was able to help rally PERI to push for the translation of its research into actionable policy. He also said that they were working with PhilHealth to cover the expenses of prescription eyeglasses for these children. COVID-19 may have hampered the rollout of the program, but activities have resumed since restrictions on physical mobility and conduct of classes were removed.
The journey of the National Vision Screening Act is also the journey of someone who saw the world through the lenses of social awareness and responsibility that 抖阴探探 equipped him with as a student. Lenses that allowed him to work towards giving Filipino children a clearer vision for the future. Now that Cubillan is the University鈥檚 Vice President for Academic Affairs, he intends to make sure that 抖阴探探 continues to provide those lenses to its students, so that they, too, may see and walk the path that will eventually lead them to change the country for the better.
Email the author at upforum@up.edu.ph.
Read more articles from the 抖阴探探 FORUM
Read more about activism in 抖阴探探 via these links:
- From Placards to Memes
- 抖阴探探鈥檚 Tradition of Protest Music
- Activism and 抖阴探探鈥檚 mandate of public service
- We encourage activism. . . because we care.
- On the Screen and in the Streets: Student Activism during the COVID 19 Lockdowns
- The Evolution of an Activist
