PEDIATRIC ORTHOPAEDIC SOCIETY OF THE PHILIPPINES (2000)
OFFICERS 2023
President: Dr Juan Alejandro V. Legaspi
VP: Dr Daniel V. Dungca
Secretary: Dr Candice Elaine C. Lim
Treasurer: Dr Rosalyn P. Flores
PRO: Dr Carlo Emmanuel J. Sumpaico
Ex Officio: Dr Vicente R. Gomez
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MEMBERS:
Aguilar, Julyn A.
Ah, Pamela Ann C.
Aliling, Jose Bayani O.
Altre, Teresita.L.
Balce, Gracia Cielo E.
Barzaga, Karlomagno G.
Decenteceo-Ricardo, Ana Cristina D.
Estera, Winston B.
Gabriel, Giselle Marie Noelle T.
Garcia, Rey-an Niño L.
Illescas, Victor C.
Javier, Juanito S.
Jiao, Leopoldo J. III
Khu, Leonard T.
Khu, Ma. Geneva S.
Legaspi, Juan Alejandro V.
Leung, Jeun Pierre F.
Lim, Tiong Sam N.
Llanos, Allen L.
Montalban, Antonio M.
Nalian, Eugenio S.
Nicomedez, Frederick Patrick I.
Olandres, Richie A.
Panopio, Nesti James B.
Rejuso-Morales, Chastity Amor V.
Reyes, Espiridion R.
Reyes, Leslie M.
Soriaso, Mylo N.
Suero, Antonio Nicanor B.
Tacata, Cirilo R., Jr.
Tiambeng, Fredrick G.
Torredes, Reggie A.
History (2009)
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Even before Orthopedics was introduced as a Surgical Specialty after the Second World War, Pediatric Orthopedic procedures were already being performed in the Philippine General Hospital, the UST Hospital, and Mission sponsored hospitals that were treating patients who had suffered from Poliomyelitis and had residual contractures. During the Commonwealth period in our country’s history, several general surgeons were invited to the United States and guested at hospitals where surgical procedures were being performed to correct the deformities of polio, burns, infections, and even clubfeet. The most prominent sponsors were the Masonic Order and the Brotherhood of the Paternal Order of Elks who had hospitals established primarily to care for children who had suffered from Polio and Burns. These hospitals were the Scottish Rite Hospitals and the Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children. Initially, doctors from these hospitals would come to the Philippines and perform surgeries in the various hospitals. These surgeons came mostly from the Honolulu and San Francisco units of the Shriners Hospitals and the Atlanta branches of the Scottish Rite Hospital. In the late 30’s, the Masonic Order established a Ward in the Mary Johnston Hospital to deal with Crippled Children and Dr. Manuel Rivera, Sr. was the surgeon designated by the Shriners to head this unit.
After the Second World War, Pediatric Orthopedics as a Sub-specialty of Orthopedics in the Philippines was initially started as a section of the first two training programs: the National Orthopedic Hospital and the Philippine General Hospital. When Orthopedic services in these two institutions started growing, many of the products of their programs were sent abroad to undergo training and exposure in hospitals that were doing specialized work in newer emerging specialties. The first pioneers were sponsored by the major American charitable groups that were active during and immediately after the Second World War. These were the Shriners, the Masonic Order and the Elks Club. Dr. Jose V. de Los Santos was the first to benefit from this exposure when he was a scholar of the Masonic Order in their Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. This one-year (and sometimes two year) program was continued at the National Orthopedic Hospital. Dr. Felicisimo Garcia was sent for training in polio and spinal deformity surgery. Dr. Deogracias Tablan went to the University of Michigan for Cerebral Palsy management, Dr. Catalino Jocson got a Masters in Science Degree in Orthopedics from the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Florentino Pineda and Dr. Pedro
Velasco were both scholars of the Shriners'system. In the 60’s when the National Orthopedic Hospital moved from the old Mental Hospital compound to its present location on Banawe St., Quezon City, the first Pediatric Orthopedic Department was established with Dr. Enrique Mangalindan as the head. Other consultants were Dr. Felicisimo Garcia, head of the Polio Clinic and Dr. Sergio Pineda, a Prosthetic Surgeon. Dr. Benjamin Tamesis, the Medical Director, was also a consultant of the unit. Dr. Tablan continued to manage a Cerebral Palsy Unit that became known as Elk’s Cerebral Palsy Center. This clinic moved to its Makati location a few years later.
This era saw the introduction of formal exchange programs and scholarships such as the Colombo plan that would help increase local expertise in Pediatric Orthopedics. Dr. Buenaventura Canto trained with Dr. Paul Harrington for scoliosis surgery. Dr. Teresita Altre spent a year in London in 1979 under the tutelage of Dr. Anthony Catteral and Sir John Lloyd Roberts in London and Dr. Robert Owen in Liverpool. Dr. Altre succeeded Dr. Mangalindan as head of the Pediatric Orthopaedics upon her return from fellowship in 1980. She also joined the Faculty of the University of Santo Tomas as the main Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon.
When the Department of Orthopaedics in UP-PGH, was formed in 1972, Pediatric Orthopedics was a subspecialty unit with Dr.Manuel Rivera as the first head of the section along with Dr. Raphael Recto. Dr. Antonio M. Montalban formally trained in Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery under Drs. Edgar Schumeville and Prof. Robert Dithea of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Center, Oxford University and upon Dr. Rivera’s retirement, he became the head of the Pediatric Orthopedic Unit. He was also the first Pediatric Orthopedic consultant at the Philippine Childrens’ Medical Center under the Department of Health when it was built in 1976. Dr. Cirilo Tacata was the next to train abroad followed by Dr. Espiridion Reyes, Jr.
The first Orthopedic surgeon to become a member of the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America was Dr. Vicente Gomez who trained under Dr. Eugene Bleck at the Childrens Hospital at Stanford University from 1987-89. He was also the first to have articles on Pediatric Orthopedics published in US journals and presented at the International Federation of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeons. In 1997, together with Dr. Julyn Aguilar, their aper won the prestigious Howard Steel Award given by POSNA for Outstanding Clinical Research paper on Conservative vs Surgical Treatment of Pott’s Paraplegia in Children. Dr. Gomez stayed at the NOH-RMC for several years before moving to the Philippine Childrens Medical Center. He also took over the Philippine Cerebral Palsy Clinic after Dr. Tablan’s retirement as medical director for 15 years.
Dr. Julyn Aguilar followed and did three formal fellowships: In Hong Kong under PC Leung, in Adelaide under Drs. Andrew Sutherland and Bruce Foster and in Baltimore under Dr. Dror Paley. She returned to the St. Luke’s Hospital and the POC where she took over the Children’s Orthopedic Unit after Dr. Altre’s retirement. She is now an officer of the POA and an advocate of the Ponsetti technique for managing congenital clubfeet.
Dr. Juanito Javier was sent by PGH to Glasgow, Scotland where he did his training, and this was followed by work on Ilizarov external fixation and distraction osteogenesis in Italy (please verify this). Dr. Danny Dungca also followed up on this work and with Dr. Aguilar, they formed the local branch of ASAMII. The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of the Philippines was first organized on October 16, 1993, in Manila. The first meeting was attended BY Drs. Antonio M. Montalban, Teresita Altre, Cirilo Tacata, Jose Agbayani Aliling, Vicente Gomez, Edward Wang, Julyn Aguilar, Agustin Morales, Rafael Bundoc, Winston Estera, Espiridion Reyes, Leslie Reyes, Felix Vicuña, Tiong Sam Lim, Mike Rivera and Ferdinand Amante. The group went through several years of trying to work out the character of the organization. The first officers of the group were Dr. Teresita L. Altre, President; Dr. Jose Bayani Aliling, Vice President; Dr. Vince Gomez, Secretary; and Dr. Cirilo Tacata, Treasurer and Dr. Antonio Montalban as emeritus President.
The group was formally organized in 2008 when a large group of POA fellows who had completed Fellowship training came together to put to work the formal organization and incorporation of the society. Elections were held online and the present officers are:
President Dr. Juanito S. Javier
Vice President Dr. Vicente R. Gomez
Secretary Dr. Julyn A. Aguilar
Treasurer Dr. Leslie M. Reyes
PRO Dr. Daniel V. Dungca
The future of Pediatric Orthopedics in the Philippines is good considering the increased interest in this subspecialty field. There is a larger number of fellows who have trained and returned to the country to practice the field and most of the Departments in the country are
now establishing Pediatric Orthopedic units.