The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed thousands of lives, among these are brave health workers who are serving and sacrificing their lives in the frontlines.
Dr. Raul Jara passed away on the morning of March 24.
The former president of the Philippine Heart Association was remembered as a leader, a mentor and a friend to his colleagues and students.
To his family, he was “a model husband and father who put his family first before himself.”
“His memory is not defined by how he died but how he lived. He dedicated his whole life to constant learning and teaching and molding future doctors. He would ask the tough questions and push you to learn and persevere. He believed in his students and would think of them as his children and the hope for the future generations,” Dr. Ling Jara-Silva said in a post.
The University of the Philippines (UP) Manila community released a statement to pay tribute to an “Indefatigable Teacher and Mentor, a Leader and Healer.”
“He emboldened his trainees to aim for excellence in all their undertakings and develop their full potentials. He was the ever-generous consultant and colleague in many ways,” the statement continued.
A UP College of Medicine Batch 1977 alumni, Dr. Jara continued to become one of the university’s faculty.
The UP Medicine Choir sang a virtual choir version of his poem “Salamat sa Ating Guro” as a tribute to Dr. Jara and other fallen heroes.
“The UP MedChoir would like to thank our heroes for all the lessons they have taught us, as well as offer its condolences to the families and friends left behind,” it said in a statement.
Kilusang Mayo Uno also paid tribute to him as a “martyr of the Filipino people.”
“We condole with the bereaved family and friends of Dr. Jara as the entire Filipino workers and people grieve for the loss of a people’s doctor and teacher. He was an activist since the dark years of martial law under the US-backed Marcos government,” the labor centre said in a statement.
KMU also decried “the severe lack of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), facilities for testing, measures for contact tracing and isolation, and massive treatment.”
The Department of Health has updated the number of COVID-19 cases to 1,075, with 68 deaths and 35 recoveries.
Salamat sa ating guro
Salamat sa ating guro
Ikaw ang naglinaw sa aming kaisipan
Hinimay mo nang unti-unti, masalimuot na usapin
Upang ang mga ito ay maging makabuluhan at kapaki-pakinabang
Salamat sa ating guro sa oras na ginugol
upang hubugin ang kaugalian
Binantayog mo ang aming antas ng pag-aaral
Pinag-igiting mo ang mga usapin upang
lalo itong maunawaan
Ang mga pananalita mo ay marahan,
matatag, at makatarungan
Ang mga bigkasin mo ay aral sa malalim na kaisipan
Binigyan mo kami ng laya upang bumuo
ng sariling pananaw na siyang
huhubog sa aming kinabukasan
Dahil sa iyo, kami ay namulat at nagkabuhay
Tinuruan mo kami ng landas na walang hangganan
Salamat po Panginoon sa paglikha mo sa kanya
upang kami ay turuan ng tunay at tanging landas
