From Bulacan to Marikina: A Vision That Continues to Grow
The mission of We Bless We Care Foundation is becoming clearer with every community it supports: help more women get screened, empower frontline health workers, and build local systems that can continue beyond one-time medical missions.
After supporting cervical cancer prevention training efforts in Malolos and other Bulacan communities, the Foundation is now looking toward another important partner city: Marikina.
Marikina City has shown strong openness to innovation in public health. Under the leadership of its City Health Office, the city is actively exploring newer technologies and practical systems that can make cervical cancer screening more accessible, more efficient, and more sustainable.
For We Bless We Care Foundation, this is exactly the kind of local commitment worth supporting.
A Thursday Program Built for Training and Service
In Marikina, free breast and cervical cancer screening is being held every Thursday at the Marikina City Diagnostic and Medical Arts Building.
But this program is more than a weekly screening activity.
It is also a training platform.
Marikina City has 16 rural health units or health centers. The plan is for midwives from one health center to rotate every Thursday to the Marikina Diagnostic and Medical Arts Building. During their rotation, they will be trained and guided in handling patients using speculoscope-assisted Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid, or speculoscope-assisted VIA.
This approach allows the city to build skills gradually and systematically.
Instead of training everyone in one session and leaving them on their own, Marikina’s model allows midwives to observe, practice, receive guidance, and slowly gain confidence in using the scope for cervical cancer screening.
Each Thursday becomes both a service day and a learning day.
Training Today for Sustainability Tomorrow
The long-term goal is clear.
Once all 16 health centers have trained midwives, Marikina City will need its own cervical imaging scope so the program can continue and expand.
This is where We Bless We Care Foundation hopes to provide support.
Similar to its planned support for Malolos, the Foundation can offer assistance by providing access to a scope for Marikina City, provided that the city can commit to screening more than 100 women. This target is important because sustainability requires both equipment and actual service delivery.
A scope should not remain unused. It should become a working tool for the community.
By linking support to a clear screening goal, We Bless We Care Foundation helps ensure that the resource will translate into real benefit for women.
Why the Scope Matters
Traditional VIA screening is usually done by direct visualization of the cervix with the naked eye. While this remains an important and accessible method, it can be difficult for some health workers, especially when lighting, angles, anatomy, or experience affect what they can clearly see.
The use of a speculoscope helps address this challenge.
With better visualization, the midwife can see the cervix more clearly. The image can be captured, reviewed, discussed, and evaluated. This does not replace the skill of the health worker; instead, it strengthens her confidence and supports better decision-making.
One meaningful moment during the training was when a midwife appreciated how much clearer the cervix appeared through the scope compared to naked-eye visualization. What was once difficult to describe became easier to see, understand, and document.
That moment reflected the heart of the program.
When health workers are given the right tools and proper mentoring, they are better able to serve women in their communities.
A City Open to Innovation
Marikina’s openness to newer technologies makes this program especially promising.
The city’s screening initiative is guided by strong local leadership, including:
Dr. Christopher Guevarra, Marikina City Health Officer
Dr. Manuel “Manolet” Loveria, Marikina City Cancer Control Chief
Ms. Ma. Gracia Mariano, RN, Marikina City NCD Coordinator and Nurse of Tanong Health Center
Ms. Anna Marie Tomimbang, RM, Marikina City Head Midwife Coordinator
Ms. Precy Cabasis, RM, and Ms. Vilma Reas from the Specialty Clinics of the Marikina City Diagnostic and Medical Arts Building
Their involvement shows that the city is not only conducting screenings, but also building a stronger system around prevention, training, documentation, and patient care.
For We Bless We Care Foundation, Marikina represents a city where support can grow into something sustainable because the local health leadership is ready to innovate and act.
Nexone Solutions: Strengthening the Screening Workflow
Another important part of the Marikina initiative is the live trial of a digital screening system under NexOne Solutions.
The system is designed to improve the cervical cancer screening workflow by allowing patients to register through a QR-based sign-up system, helping organize appointments and screening confirmation, enabling operators to upload cervical images securely to the cloud, and allowing doctors to evaluate cases remotely.
This digital workflow can help improve documentation, reporting, and follow-up.
For cervical cancer prevention programs, this matters because screening is only the first step. Women with concerning findings need proper evaluation, treatment when eligible, patient navigation, and referral when needed.
NexOne Solutions is envisioned as a digital support system that can help connect these steps more efficiently.
We Bless We Care Foundation supports this direction because better systems can help LGUs screen more women, track results more accurately, and respond more quickly to patients who need care.
Quality First, Then Scale
During Marikina’s second Thursday screening run, 15 patients were screened.
The number may be modest, but the focus was on quality.
The images captured were clear, the workflow was tested, and the health workers received hands-on exposure. These early runs are important because they help refine the process before the program expands further.
Sustainable public health programs are not built by rushing. They are built by creating a system that works, training people properly, and improving the process step by step.
This is the kind of growth We Bless We Care Foundation wants to support.
More Than Equipment: A Continuum of Care
The Foundation’s planned support for Marikina is not limited to providing access to a scope.
The broader vision includes repeat awareness training on HPV and cervical cancer screening, continued training on the use of speculoscope-assisted VIA, access to thermal ablation when appropriate, patient navigation, and referral support for women who may need further evaluation or treatment.
This is important because cervical cancer prevention is not only about detecting possible disease. It is about making sure that women are guided through the next steps.
A woman who screens positive should not be left confused.
A patient who needs treatment should be helped.
A suspected cancer case should be referred properly.
A city program should have a pathway, not just an activity.
This is how We Bless We Care Foundation turns compassion into practical action.
Helping Communities Screen More Women
Whether in Bulacan or Marikina, the Foundation’s message remains the same:
Help communities screen more women.
Support frontline health workers.
Build local capacity, not just one-time missions.
Use innovation to make prevention more accessible.
Turn care into action.
Marikina’s Thursday program shows what this can look like in practice.
Each rotating health center brings its midwives closer to the skills they need. Each screening day gives women access to early detection. Each captured image becomes part of learning, documentation, and better care. Each trained health worker becomes a stronger link between the city’s health system and the women it serves.
A Partnership for the Future
We Bless We Care Foundation recognizes the commitment of Marikina City’s health leaders, midwives, barangay health workers, and specialty clinic staff who are helping make this program possible.
The Foundation also acknowledges CerviQ / End Cervical Cancer Philippines Organization, Inc. for providing technical training, medical guidance, and mentorship in speculoscope-assisted VIA screening.
Together, these partners are helping build a model where cervical cancer screening can become more routine, more documented, and more accessible to women at the community level.
The vision is simple but powerful:
Train the health workers.
Support the system.
Screen more women.
Navigate patients who need help.
Save lives through early detection.
The Work Continues
For We Bless We Care Foundation, Marikina is another important step in its mission to help communities fight cervical cancer through education, technology, and sustainable local support.
The goal is not only to provide help for one day.
The goal is to help build a system that can continue serving women long after the first training, the first screening day, or the first device trial.
Because when a community is trained, equipped, and supported, prevention becomes possible.
And when prevention becomes possible, lives can be saved.
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