IN SEPTEMBER this year, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will mark its 75th year of service with commemorative projects that pay tribute to its milestones and achievements.

One of these projects is ?75 Stories, 75 Writers,? a coffee-table book that puts a human face on the organization?s often anonymous charity work. Created by Sipat Publications, the book sprang from PCSO General Manager Rosario M. Uriarte?s idea of telling the stories of individual beneficiaries.

The stories themselves range from inspirational feats of individual persistence, to heart-breaking struggles of parent and child against debilitating illness, to the joys and fears of senior citizens in Golden Acres; from fictional cautionary tales of winning the sweepstakes, to hilarious short stories on nurturing one?s favorite lotto numbers.

Seventy-five writers from print and broadcast media, theater, film, the academe, and the corporate world were asked to contribute stories in a variety of prose, poetry, and journalistic formats.

The stories are complemented by compelling photographs by some of the country?s best lensmen.

The book?s introduction is written by award-winning poet Marjorie Evasco. Editors for the book are Arnold Molina Azurin and Marla Garin-Alvarez for contributions in English, and Donato Mejia Alvarez, Luna Sicat-Cleto and Romulo Baquiran Jr. for contributions in Filipino.

Among the contributing writers are Celina Cristobal, Eric Caruncho, Jocelyn de Jesus, Margarita Gomez, Luann Fuentes, Alcuin Papa, Marvin Benaning, and Veronica Uy, as well as columnists Ambeth Ocampo and Butch Hilario.

Literary contributors are poets Ed Maranan, Rogelio Mangahas, Krip Yuson, Gemino H. Abad, Joel Toledo, and Vim Nadera; novelist Mario Miclat, playwrights Reuel Molina Aguila and Nick Pichay and poet/scriptwriter Jerry Gracio; and Balagtasan stalwarts Teo Antonio and Mike Coroza.

Among the contributing photographers are Joan Bondoc, Alex Baluyut, Fernando Sepe, Sonny Yabao, Jes Aznar, Gari Buenavista and Erik Liongoren.

The following is an excerpt from the book.

Mineo and Josa Orcullo
By Eric S. Caruncho

A ?catastrophe? is variously defined in the dictionary as: 1. the final event of a dramatic action, especially a tragedy; 2. a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter ruin; and 3. a violent, usually destructive natural event.

Medical dictionaries also speak of some illnesses as ?catastrophic,? meaning ?severe illness requiring prolonged hospitalization or recovery; usually involving high costs for hospitals and doctors and medicines.? A catastrophic illness is usually considered to be ?life-threatening or posing a threat of serious disability, requiring radical treatment that is frequently costly.?

What the dictionary leaves out is that the catastrophe is rarely suffered by the patient alone: it is simultaneously experienced by his or her entire family.

When a catastrophic illness strikes, lives and dreams are put on hold, as the family struggles to cope with the crisis. Mounting medical bills eat up scarce family resources that would have otherwise gone to food, housing, and education. First, what little savings there are just goes, followed by the tuition fund, then the household budget. Finally, the family goes into debt, as the illness and its aftermath cast a shadow over what once might have been a bright and better life, full of hope for the future.

Such was the case of Mineo and Josa Orcullo, a couple in their mid-40s, living in Rosario, Agusan del Sur, with their four children ? Alexander, 21; Sarah Jane, 19; Jimpy, 16; and Mary Joy, 14.

The Orcullos are a typical Filipino family. They were not well-off by any stretch of the imagination, but through hard work and initiative, they have managed to build a life for themselves that has given them contentment and reason to hope for a better life in the future.

Mineo Orcullo ? a relative of the crusading journalist Alex Orcullo who was assassinated in Davao for his outspoken commentary in 1984 ? was among many migrants from the Visayas who came to Mindanao to seek their fortunes. The Orcullos originate from Bohol, but they are now spread out all over Northern Mindanao.

Mineo found his way to the town of Rosario as a worker for Filipinas Palm Oil ? a multinational company running an 8,000-hectare plantation. It covers much of Rosario, and the neighboring towns as well. It was there that he met his wife ? Josa Corada.

He worked there for 20 years, from 1984 until 2004, when his involvement in the plantation workers? union got him in hot water with the management. He thought it wiser to apply for a voluntary resignation.

Still, life was full of promise for the Orcullos. They were allowed to remain in their house which had formed part of the plantation workers? housing. With his separation pay, Mineo bought a stock of goats and pigs which they tended as a backyard livelihood. With the income from this small livestock business, the family got by, and was able to put their children through school by strategically selling off a pig or a goat when enrolment time came.

To supplement the family income, Mineo also began working as a casual employee at the Rosario municipal hall.

Life was good. Eldest son Alexander was enrolled in the BS Forestry program of the Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology in nearby Bunawan. Eldest daughter Sarah Jane had just finished high school, and was looking forward to enrolling as a freshman at the Philippine Normal University, where she hoped to accomplish her goal of becoming a teacher.

These dreams have not vanished ? but they remain dreams. It is the hope of ever seeing them fulfilled that, for the moment, seems unattainable.

It started innocuously enough, when Josa began to complain of fever and severe coughing. At first, the couple thought nothing of it. After all, she and her husband had been relatively healthy all their lives.

But soon after, Josa began to experience shortness of breath. She felt weaker than she had ever felt before, as if all her strength had gone.

Alarmed, Mineo rushed her to the Agusan del Sur Provincial Hospital. Doctors there told him that her heart might be enlarged, but they were at a loss as to what might have caused it. The provincial hospital lacked the testing facilities and equipment to pinpoint precisely what afflicted Josa. But whatever it was, it was clearly getting worse.

After a week, with no clear diagnosis and treatment, the family could wait no longer. Josa was rushed to the Davao Medical Center, one of the largest medical facilities in Mindanao. Surely, they thought, the specialists there could find out what afflicted Josa, and, God willing, cure her.

Adding to the uncertainty of not having a clear diagnosis was the financial strain. Having enjoyed good health for most of their lives, the Orcullos had no idea how expensive medical care could be. They soon found out.

The Orcullos had been saving up for one other dream: a home of their own. After household expenses and tuition, they saved whatever they could so they could finally live in their own house, after decades of living on the plantation.

Mineo shakes his head at how quickly medical bills ate up what had taken them years to save. After using up his savings, Mineo had no choice but to sell off all his goats and pigs, effectively liquidating the little business which had tided them over all these years.

But even that was not enough. Hardly. To move Josa to Davao, Mineo had to borrow from his cooperative what once seemed an astronomically large sum of money ? P50,000.

He would soon find out how laughable that was, because the Orcullos were about to enter the world of private medical care.

In the light of Josa?s worsening condition, the doctors at Davao Medical Center recommended she be placed in the intensive care unit, and the best equipped one in Davao was the San Pedro Hospital ? a private one.

After weeks of uncertainty, the doctors were now fairly certain of what seemed to be attacking Josa?s immune system ? lupus erythematosus.

Best known in the Philippines as the disease that eventually struck down former president Ferdinand Marcos, lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body?s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs ? hence, Josa?s enlarged heart. Lupus occurs more frequently in women than in men, for reasons still unknown. There is as yet no known cure for lupus.

The good news was that, other than her heart, Josa?s other organs were still in pretty good shape, and, with continued treatment, she could return to a more or less normal life. The bad news was that she needed to stay in the ICU for three weeks so that she could receive the necessary care. At roughly P20,000/day, Mineo soon found himself deep in debt, not only to his cooperative, but also to friends and relatives.

After three weeks, Josa?s symptoms had abated enough for her to be moved out of intensive care and into the regular patients? ward. The worst was over. Lupus sufferers can live a normal life, but they must live carefully. They must avoid stress, eat nutritious food, and monitor their symptoms. Lupus sufferers are especially prone to kidney failure, sometimes needing dialysis and kidney transplants.

But while Josa was well enough to be released, she and her husband had fallen prey to that particular Catch-22 situation peculiar to the Philippine private health care system: Many private hospitals will not discharge a patient, until all his or her hospital bills are paid. Families with no money end up with otherwise healthy relatives in confinement and mounting hospital bills which amount to no more than board and lodging. The longer it takes for their families to come up with the cash, the larger the bill they have to pay at the end of it all.

Mineo was faced with a whopping P260,000 bill at the end of his wife?s treatment ? more money than he had ever seen in his life. Not to mention the debts that he would eventually have to pay.

Thankfully, his employer at the Rosario local government told Mineo about the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and its fund for helping families cope with such emergencies as a catastrophic illness.

After inquiring at the PCSO office in Davao City, Mineo gathered together all the documents he needed and, borrowing more money from relatives, traveled to Manila to apply for assistance at the PCSO main office.

Living with lupus is a reality that Mineo, Josa and their children will have to come to terms with. Josa?s health will have to be carefully guarded from now on. The family knows they are going to start all over again. For the moment, they will have to stay in the workers? housing and not think about building a house. For the moment, Alexander may have to leave his forestry course and find work. Sarah Jane may have to wait longer before she can again think of becoming a teacher.

Sacrifices will have to be made, and life, as they know it, will be harder than it has been before.

But thanks to the assistance of family, friends, and the PCSO, they can still face these hardships together ? as a family.

In the end, that is what really matters. ?