January 28, 2026
Heart procedures give 3 beneficiaries a second chance in life
By Joy Rojas
For Gerald Ritualo and Gloria Espinosa, it began with a tightness in their chest; for Dennis Cariaga, a bloated stomach and feet, shortness of breath, and a racing pulse.
Each was experiencing the telltale signs of heart disease—coronary artery disease in the case of Ritualo and Espinosa; rheumatic heart disease, severe mitral and aortic stenosis, and congestive heart failure for Cariaga.
The leading cause of morbidity in the Philippines, heart disease progresses to life-threatening levels because of unhealthy eating habits, a sedentary lifestyle, stressful work and home life, and smoking and alcohol consumption. Expensive medicines, procedures, and doctors’ fees force many Filipinos to tolerate their aches and pains or skip regular checkups until their symptoms prove debilitating.
Such was the case of 44-year-old security guard Cariaga. Told by a doctor in 2012 that he would need open-heart surgery to address the fluid retention that was causing his feet and abdomen to swell, he refused, opting to take maintenance medication instead. That decision led to numerous confinements for heart failure, and the permanent discoloration of his lower legs, a mark of poor circulation.
In November 2023, after yet another confinement, he finally agreed to the surgery. The major operation cost P1.5 million, and to proceed, he would have to shell out P500,000.
Ritualo, 45, a team leader for a private company, experienced three episodes of chest pains and vomiting before he had himself admitted to a hospital in February 2025. An angiogram in May revealed he had hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or plaque clogging his heart’s arterial walls. An angioplasty using two stents to unblock his arteries would set him back by P400,000.
Following an angiogram in February 2025, Espinosa was asked to choose between bypass surgery or an angioplasty to treat her severe 3-vessel coronary artery disease. The 61-year-old office staffer of a printing company chose neither. Having gone through a C-section with her two kids, she didn’t want to go under the knife again.
And how was she supposed to come up with P600,000 for an angioplasty? Securing P75,000 for an angiogram alone required help from her local government, her social security benefits, and loans made by her family.
“That’s why I said, ‘Enough.’ I know I have a heart problem and I’ll just manage it with medicines,” she says. Her doctor warned her that she could have a stroke.
Eventually, family and friends prevailed upon her to go for the procedure. “You’re still young!” they reminded her. “You still have a mission in life!”
Unfit to work, the three spent their months-long leaves alternating rest with sourcing funds for their respective procedures—a task that tested their patience, commitment, and fortitude.
In their search, they came upon the Tzu Chi Foundation and its Medical Assistance Program.
“Tzu Chi is very supportive. If they tell you they’ll get back to you tomorrow or next week because they’re still in discussion, they’ll do it,” says Ritualo, who found Tzu Chi online through its partnership with Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center.
Cariaga has his wife Lonelyn to thank for leading them to the foundation. A policewoman assigned in Sta. Mesa’s police station, she was familiar with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in her community visits. Without an appointment, she inquired with the guards at the main entrance, who patched her up with Tzu Chi’s Charity Department. “They let me in and I was interviewed by [social worker] Jackielyn Raper, who told me about the requirements to submit,” she says. “We really felt the openness and welcome of Tzu Chi.”
Espinosa didn’t have to go far to seek Tzu Chi’s assistance. Her officemate, Virgilio Rom, is a Tzu Chi beneficiary who underwent angioplasty in 2021. “His wife accompanied me. That’s how I met Tzu Chi volunteer Julie Collado,” she said. Once she submitted requirements and entertained volunteers in interviews and home visits, she was granted medical assistance in three months.
After their successful procedures done at the Philippine Heart Center, Ritualo, Cariaga, and Espinosa are aware that they’ve been given a second chance in life. As such, they’re making the most of every opportunity to extend the goodness they received from Tzu Chi to others.
“I’m no longer hot-headed,” says Cariaga, who celebrates his second year post-mitral and aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass graft surgery in May. “I’m kinder now, and a lot of people are surprised by my change.”
Espinosa, whose angioplasty was in May 2025, discovered a new goal. “To help other people who have a similar problem as mine,” she says. Last October, she shared her learnings with hundreds of medical assistance beneficiaries who attended the quarterly Charity Day.
“I was really nervous because it’s my first time to speak before a large crowd,” she says. “But I did it because of the help that Tzu Chi gave me. I’m happy and proud to be one of the people that Tzu Chi helped.”
No longer working night shifts and overseeing a team, Ritualo starts his day by catching the sun rise then going for a walk. When he works from home, he alternates sitting before a computer with tending to his plants and fish, and playing with his dog, Jigs.
Since his health scare, which culminated with an angioplasty in October 2025, Ritualo has made health his priority.
“Work is life, but what is work if you don’t have life?” he says. “I’m very grateful that I met Tzu Chi Foundation. It has a place in my heart.”
Gerald Ritualo welcomes Tzu Chi volunteers into his home in Valenzuela City.
When he works from home, Gerald Ritualo alternates sitting before a computer with playing with his dog, Jigs.
With her daughter Jane, Gloria Espinosa (first and second from right) receives a coin can and other tokens from Tzu Chi volunteers.
Gloria Espinosa recovers from angioplasty at the Philippine Heart Center in May 2025.
Gloria Espinosa is grateful to officemate Virgilio Rom (right) for introducing her to Tzu Chi. Through Tzu Chi’s assistance, Rom underwent angioplasty in 2021.
After tolerating the debilitating symptoms of heart failure for 11 years, Dennis Cariaga finally underwent open-heart surgery at the Philippine Heart Center in May 2024.
The scar that runs down Dennis Cariaga’s chest is from his open-heart surgery in May 2024. The scar on his lower left side is from a kidney stone operation in 2018.
The dark stains on Dennis Cariaga’s legs are a reminder of the poor circulation he experienced from his heart condition.
In a recent home visit, Tzu Chi volunteers present a coin can and other tokens to Dennis Cariaga and his wife Lonelyn.
To help raise funds for his surgery, Dennis Cariaga and his wife sold T-shirts.
Dennis Cariaga visits the Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila.