University of the Immaculate Conception will be used as Vaccination Center

(Editor’s note: Last February 4, Thursday, the Davao Catholic Herald received this “News from Southern Philippines, from the Archdiocese of Davao!” from the Bishop’s Office. Since the printing of our weekly publication is on Thursdays, we have just published this now.)

Yesterday, February 3, Wednesday, Dr. Ricardo Audan, Officer-in-Charge of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), a huge government hospital, contacted Sr. Marissa Viri, RVM, the President of the University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC), a catholic university here in Davao City, with the request if the university gym of the Bajada Campus of UIC can be used by the Department of Health (DOH) as a Vaccination Center.

The university, through Sr. Viri, gave a positive answer to this request; the university is most willing to allow this particular facility to be of help in the vaccination campaign of the DOH.

It is good to point out that this catholic university has been very supportive to our frontline medical personnel here in Davao City since the early days of the pandemic. Since March of last year until today, the Bajada Campus of the University of the Immaculate Conception has been “home” to the nurses of the Southern Philippines Medical Center who are particularly attending to COVID-19 infected patients.

I contacted Sr. Viri to thank and congratulate her and the university for this very laudable gesture, and her humble reply simply, was: “UIC will always be supportive in any way we can.”

I picked up this news simply because we need, in these very trying times, positive gestures, like what UIC is doing, inspired by the Gospel – actions that remind us of goodness and caring for each other, and that each one can give his or her share in our collective effort to combat and end this pandemic.

Abp. Romulo G. Valles, D.D.
Archbishop of Davao
4 February 2021