The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) awarded the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu with an award for being one of the partner institutions and agencies in their blood donation campaign program during the “Adlaw sa Pasalamat sa Dugong Halad” on June 21, 2019.

This was a day of thanksgiving and tribute to the different partners of VSMMC in their vision of gathering quality blood units from altruism and humanitarian culture of volunteers and to be then be given to the needing patients of the center and other hospitals. For 2018, the VSMMC Blood Service Unit (VSMMC-BSU) collected 17,132 blood units and 13,749 are collected from voluntary donors.

According to Dr. Gerardo M. Aquino Jr., Medical Center Chief II, acknowledges the heroism shown by the donors that their blood save lives. He said, “In our modern day and age, our heroes shed blood voluntarily through blood donation. Such heroism is what we celebrate today the thousands of heroes, who offered their blood and the thousands of lives saved.”

The Basilica received the Mateo Luga Award. Mateo Luga is Cebuano hero known for his spirit of adventure and courage to face the unknown. Mateo Luga Award is an award to partners who have collected 100-150 blood unit, wherein the basilica collected 104 blood units from their volunteer donors. The highest award given to an institution is the Lapu-Lapu award, which gathered more than 351 blood units.

Rev. Fr. Pacifico Nohara, OSA, rector of the Basilica accepted the award together with the BMSN Medical Clinic volunteers, namely, Dr. Alma Ungab, RN, DPA, Fe Leah Gamutan, RN, and Capt. Kenneth Edillon,  at the RLC-Summit Circle Hotel in Osmeña Circle, Cebu City.