Alarming Rate of Renal Cases KIDNEY DISEASE CLAIMS A FRIEND’S LIFE IN M’LANG

By Manny Pinol

Yesterday, my brother, M’lang Mayor Lito Pinol, and I visited the home of a friend, Romeo “Nonong” Pancho, who died recently, the latest victim of the inexplicable kidney disease haunting my hometown.

(Nonong Pancho, one of the most hardworking gentleman-farmers I have known, joined me, former mayor Mario Calayco and many other farmer leaders in the effort to revive the sugar industry in North Cotabato in 1993 and we succeeded in re-opening the mothballed NOCOSII sugar mill which is now operated by the Gotianun family. I am also the wedding godfather of his daughter.)

Just before we visited the Pancho home in the town proper, I joined a group of relatives who brought Eduardo Parondo, husband of my father’s cousin, to the M’lang cemetery, also a victim of kidney disease.

Several months ago, another relative and loyal supporter, former Pag-asa barangay chairman Raymundo Baculado also succumbed to renal failure after years of battling the disease through the very expensive and financially draining dialysis.

Kidney ailment is catastrophic to poor families not only because they agonize as they watch their loved ones die a slow and long death but also because it drains the family financially.

In most cases, the poor families have to sell whatever little belongings they have, including their work animals, to finance the weekly dialysis sessions.

An aunt, former teacher Quiching Dalumpines, used up almost all of her retirement benefits to save the life of her husband, Uncle Junior, who inevitably succumbed to kidney disease.

While there is no official study yet on the number of renal cases in M’lang, doctors in M’lang, Kidapawan City and Davao City who handle most of these cases have noticed an unusually high number of kidney disease patients from M’lang.

Yesterday, Mayor Lito and I engaged Nonong Pancho’s daughter, Lalaine, a registered nurse who is married to a Davao city doctor, in a very serious conversation on the number of renal cases from M’lang.

Lalaine said Davao City doctors, including those from Kidapawan City, have been alarmed by the very high number of kidney disease patients from M’lang.

“Could it be our water source?,” Lalaine asked Mayor Lito.

There is no definite answer to Lalaine’s question.

One thing is certain though: the high number of kidney cases in M’lang should set the alarm bells and mobilize concerned residents of the town, especially those who are financially capable to start an effort to determine the cause of the high incidence of kidney disease.

The group could support an effort to conduct a scientific study on the renal disease cases in M’lang as a long-term objective and perhaps raise funds for the purchase of dialysis machines which could be used in serving the town’s poor patients for free.

The time to move is now.

Otherwise, we will see more friends and loved ones succumb to this catastrophic disease.

(Credit for photos: Photo of damaged kidneys from Yahoo.com search engine; Photo of dialysis machine from Wikipedia.com)