August 26, 2025
Productive and pain-free, thanks to Tzu Chi
By Joy Rojas
In addition to extending quality healthcare to over 5,000 underserved patients in and around Zamboanga Sibugay, from August 14 to 16, Tzu Chi’s 283rd medical mission was a chance for volunteers to check on individuals whose lives were transformed from the free surgical treatments they received.
Danny Samonte was a young man when he first experienced the excruciating pain of hernia, or the protruding of an organ or fatty tissue in a weak spot of the belly or groin. At first, he ignored it, thinking it would go away. Instead, it progressed, and was particularly agonizing when he lifted heavy objects.
Working in a farm in Guinoman, a remote barangay in the municipality of Diplahan, Samonte didn’t have the means to see a doctor, much less visit a hospital. So, he tolerated the pain for years. “I thought I was going to die,” he recalled.
In 2018, he was writhing in pain when he was brought to Zamboanga City Medical City, a hospital nearly four hours away from his place. A cousin of his wife said someone would facilitate Samonte’s surgery. That “someone” turned out to be the Tzu Chi Foundation, through Dr. Anton Mari Lim, OIC and deputy CEO of Tzu Chi Zamboanga.
Since then, Samonte, now 51, has been able to work pain-free. All but one of his kids has finished school and he supports his family by gardening, running a small store, and driving a badjaj, Zamboanga Sibugay’s local tricycle.
“I follow Tzu Chi on Facebook and I’ve seen its various missions, including the one in Cotabato, in the Lanao area,” says his wife Marynelle. “I thought to myself, ‘They really have a heart to help. They have helped so many people.’ That’s why God will bless them more.”
The son of charcoal vendors, Rolando Adorable was only in Grade 2 when his parents sought help for his hernia. They reached out to one of his teachers, who approached an officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, who took Adorable’s case to Jason Cardente, a local government employee and longtime Tzu Chi volunteer.
Cardente spoke to Dr. Anton, and as luck would have it, Tzu Chi happened to be holding a medical mission in Dipolog. Volunteer doctors took care of Adorable’s hernia, and the boy grew up to be a kind and responsible son. At 15, the Grade 10 student divides his time between his studies and parttime work; whatever he earns, he shares with his parents and grandparents.
“I’m proud of him because even if life is hard, he tries to find ways,” says Cardente. “He doesn’t depend on anybody. He really works.”
Adorable is just one of countless individuals Cardente and his teacher wife Jenifer have extended assistance to in his 15 years as a Tzu Chi volunteer.
“With Tzu Chi, it’s all about help,” he says. “Just help. That’s all.”
Danny Samonte (third from right), his wife Marynelle and her mother (second and first from right) are visited by Tzu Chi volunteers (from left) Jenifer and Jason Cardente and Lixiel Bayron Bacayo.
Fifteen-year-old Rolando Adorable and his mom Rosebel Remasog (second and third from right) make the thumbs up sign following a home visit from Tzu Chi volunteers (from left) Jenifer Cardente, Lixiel Bayron Bacayo, and Jason Cardente.