Construction magnate Alice Eduardo was so shocked one day when, while visiting the child of an employee, who was being treated for dengue at the Philippine General Hospital, she saw all the sick children in one ward. Including those undergoing chemotherapy to vanquish their cancer. “Paano na sila?” she asked their doctors, who told her of the need for an isolation ward for these most vulnerable of God’s creatures. According to Alice, she was also told that children with cancer comprise the fastest-growing sector of hospital patients, with their numbers rising by an alarming 30 percent every year. Dubbed “Woman of Steel” for her various landmark construction projects, Alice told her sister Small Laude, “It’s time for me to build a monument of thanksgiving for all the blessings we have received.” Alice chose to build the monument, which her friends call her “monument of love,” at the PGH compound. The marker of the ward was unveiled on Feb. 18, 2015 — just after Valentine’s
The “Kapatid Conglomerates” composed of the Philippines’ top businessmen expressed their willingness to support the national government’s program that will help decrease extreme poverty in the countryside. In a recent meeting, Southern Leyte was included as one of the top 10 areas of extreme poverty which the business group wishes to help. Present during the meeting were President Rodrigo Duterte, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and the country’s top conglomerates, which included the likes of Hans Sy (SM Prime Holdings), Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Ayala Corp.), Manny Pangilinan (MVP Group of Companies), Lance Gokongwei (JG Summit), Teresita Sy-Coson (SM Investments Corp.), Tony Tan Caktiong (Jollibee Food Corp.), George (Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Erramon Aboitiz (Aboitiz Equity Ventures), Doris Magsaysay Ho (Magsaysay Group), Alfred Ty (GT Capital Holdings), former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Rep. Arthur Yap, Federico Lopez (First Philipp