With my appointment as head of the Medical Records of the National Center for Mental Health in 1984, I joined the Philippine Medical Records Association, who was then a member of IFRO. From then on, I attended a lot of training, seminars and conferences where I gained buckets of knowledge concerning Medical Records Management.

In 1977, Emmanel Lagustan attended IFRO convention in Canada which opened our association to international conventions. In 2000, Sister Lourdes Baterina, Lilian Garcia and myself attended IFRO convention in Melbourne, Australia. I was luckily voted to be one of the IFRO directors wherein I was tasked to work with Southeast Asia countries.

I was fortunate enough to have been a delegate to several conventions globally as reflected in the pictures attached. This broadened my horizons concerning health aspects and how I could contribute to my country and how I could help other countries by sharing our best practices.

My heart is truly grateful to be part of this kind of international associations because it paved the way for me to succeed in my career. Furthermore, it brought me to a higher level of developing my country’s health quality. Up to this day, I am still gaining from my previous experiences both locally and internationally. I am currently a consultant of the Philippines’ Department of Health, assessing hospitals nationwide with regards to standard health administration practices. This has further honed my skills and lets me practice my learnings from the IFHIMA conventions and experiences over these past 18 years.

Over and above all, I am very thankful to the association as I have gained mentors and friends whom I have considered my brothers and sisters away from home. I would also like to take this opportunity to do a special shout out to my dear colleagues – Phyllis Watson, Ulli Huffman, Carol Lewis and of course, Dr. Y.C. Chong, the former WHO Regional adviser in Health Information.

Thank you, IFHIMA and cheers to another 50 fruitful years!