February 11, 2025
A Doctor’s Healing Journey through Faith and Compassion
By Arvin Yanga
Dreams shatter in the most unexpected ways.
For Andrea Bonife Ibañez, it happened during her first year of medical school when a tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis didn’t just threaten her life but also her calling to heal others.
Every day for two weeks, young Ibañez watched her medical dreams slip away from a hospital bed—not as a doctor, but as a TB patient. Those dark days would eventually lead her down the halls of Zamboanga City Medical Center, where she’d make her way to treatments, passing the pristine Zamboanga Tzu Chi Great Love Eye Center, a building that stood as a silent witness to her struggles. Little did she know that the Buddhist organization behind that eye center would not only fulfill her dreams of becoming a doctor, but transform her understanding of compassion and service.
“The associate dean told me I had to stop, although I was pleading at the time to continue," Ibañez remembered, her voice catching. The decision was non-negotiable as her condition posed a significant risk to her peers.
Tuberculosis didn’t just attack her lungs; it threatened to suffocate her aspirations. As she laid in her hospital bed for two weeks, watching her classmates continue their journey while hers came to a grinding halt, the weight of her reality proved too much to bear.
The daughter of teachers Romy and Becky, Ibañez harbored a dream that seemed extremely impossible to achieve. “Deep in my heart, I really wanted to be a doctor. I could imagine myself providing medical care to people, especially those in the rural areas,” Ibañez shared, her voice softening as she recalled her earliest dreams. But with her family of seven struggling to meet the Php 85,000 monthly medical school tuition, reality painted a different picture.
“I entered the school without any financial security,” Ibañez shared. She spoke of how she promised her parents she’d find a way, though the path ahead was unclear. Even with a scholarship from Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine (AdZU SOM) that covered 25 percent of tuition fees, she faced a steep mountain of challenges ahead of her.
Ibañez’s doubts were fueled during her isolation period for TB, and her mother Becky’s honest admission that they couldn't afford her education only added to her despair. “I thought that maybe I was wrong after all. Maybe being a doctor is not for me.”
During her year of forced hiatus, Ibañez refused to let her dream slip away entirely, a shift of perspective that not even a communicable illness can make her give up. She threw herself into online research work, becoming a research assistant for doctors–anything to inch closer to her goal. But her income did not even suffice, and again, doubt began to creep in like a shadow in the night.
It was in this darkest moment that light found its way through. Rowayne Mandi, administrative assistant of AdZU in charge of scholarships, approached Ibañez with news that would change everything: Tzu Chi Foundation was considering its first-ever medical scholarship recipient.
“That time, I was only conditioning my mind that I might not get the sponsorship,” Ibañez admitted, reflecting on how pessimistic she was towards the scholarship grant that two other applicants were vying for. “I already conditioned my mind to not get the scholarship so I would not get hurt.”
Despite the self-doubt, she was the second one who was accepted as Tzu Chi Zamboanga’s scholar. “I asked myself ‘Is this real?’ because I wasn't believing that at the moment,” Ibañez remembered her acceptance crystal clear. When asked about receiving the scholarship, her eyes still shine in disbelief. The moment felt surreal, she said, like a dream within a dream.
What followed wasn’t just financial support but an embrace into a family she never expected to find. Tzu Chi volunteers and staff became her second family, checking on her well-being with warm love and care.
Tzu Chi Philippines Deputy CEO and Tzu Chi Zamboanga Officer-in-Charge Dr. Anton Mari Lim, Vice Officer-in-Charge Harvey Yap, volunteer Eugene Tan, and program officer Dhing Abdulaip, never made her feel like just another scholarship recipient. As noted by Ibañez with touching gratitude, they became her uncles, their concern extending far beyond her academic performance to touch her healing heart and uplift her spirit.
“Every time we see each other, they're still very warm towards us and will always ask us about our journey,” Ibañez shared.
Perhaps nothing transformed Ibañez more than participating in Tzu Chi’s home visitations. Witnessing families in desperate need of help shifted something fundamental in her perspective. Through tearful eyes, she discovered her struggles had prepared her heart to truly understand the meaning of compassionate service.
Today, as Dr. Andrea Bonife Ibañez, she sees her journey through new eyes. That year of illness and uncertainty, she now realizes, wasn’t a detour but a divine appointment. It led her exactly where she needed to be—into the arms of an organization that would not only fund her education but shape her very understanding of what it means to be a doctor.
Her voice is filled with purpose when she speaks of her future plans. She dreams not just of treating patients, but of embodying the same unconditional compassion that Tzu Chi showed her. The organization’s impact runs deeper than the diploma hanging on her wall, it flows through her very approach to medicine.
“Tzu Chi became my example of how to offer unconditional service,” she reflected, a profound gratitude evident in her words. She plans to volunteer with the foundation, determined to complete the circle of giving that began with her own healing.
In the end, Ibañez’s story isn’t just about a scholarship that helped her become a doctor. It’s about how compassion, when offered without conditions, has the power to heal not just bodies but spirits. It’s about how faith, when met with kindness, can transform setbacks into stepping stones. Most of all, it’s about how one organization’s decision to invest in a struggling medical student created ripples of healing that will touch countless lives through the hands of a doctor who understands, deeply and personally, the healing power of compassion.
“If I’m already in the position of being able to help, I would definitely not put Tzu Chi Foundation out of my mind.”
As Ibañez begins her medical career, she carries with her not just the knowledge from her books, but the wisdom of her journey—that sometimes our greatest purpose is born from our deepest struggles, and that true healing comes not just from medicine, but from the touch of unconditional love.
Dr. Andrea Bonife Ibañez beams with pride after completing her Doctor of Medicine-Master of Public Health degree at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine. It's a dream made possible through faith and educational support from Tzu Chi Zamboanga.
Andrea Bonife Ibañez in a moment of triumph shared with parents Romy and Becky at the 27th Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine (AdZU SOM) Commencement Exercises where her journey came full circle.
Andrea Bonife Ibañez in a moment of triumph shared with parents Romy and Becky at the 27th Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine (AdZU SOM) Commencement Exercises where her journey came full circle.
Tzu Chi Zamboanga Vice Officer-in-Charge Harvey Yap presents Andrea Bonife Ibañez with her first stethoscope, marking her transition into the medical profession.
Andrea Bonife Ibañez (second from right) with AdZU SOM Dean Dr. Jaybee Bazaan (center), fellow Tzu Chi scholars Edil-Joshua Perez Ganas (first from right) and Rizma Kila Uckung-Luy (second from left), and volunteer Jessica Lee (first from left) who helped shape her medical journey.
Andrea Bonife Ibañez gains hands-on training experience at Zamboanga Tzu Chi Great Love Eye Center, where she assesses and diagnoses people with vision problems.
Andrea Bonife Ibañez gains hands-on training experience at Zamboanga Tzu Chi Great Love Eye Center, where she assesses and diagnoses people with vision problems.
Andrea Bonife Ibañez gains hands-on training experience at Zamboanga Tzu Chi Great Love Eye Center, where she assesses and diagnoses people with vision problems.
Going the extra-mile: Andrea Bonife Ibañez (in blue) and Tzu Chi volunteers Dhing Abdulaip, Eugene Tan, and Jerome Del Mundo trek uphill to reach families in remote mountain communities, leaving no one behind in their mission of service.
Going the extra-mile: Andrea Bonife Ibañez (in blue) and Tzu Chi volunteers Dhing Abdulaip, Eugene Tan, and Jerome Del Mundo trek uphill to reach families in remote mountain communities, leaving no one behind in their mission of service.
Going the extra-mile: Andrea Bonife Ibañez (in blue) and Tzu Chi volunteers Dhing Abdulaip, Eugene Tan, and Jerome Del Mundo trek uphill to reach families in remote mountain communities, leaving no one behind in their mission of service.
Standing in a sun-drenched field, Andrea Bonife Ibañez (in blue) embodies a dream realized through faith and compassion—a former TB patient-turned-doctor, ready to serve those who need it most in the communities that shaped her journey.