ILOILO City – The Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) held a two-day bloodletting activity at the covered gym of Camp Macario B. Peralta Jr. in Jamindan, Capiz.
Seventy-one blood bags were collected from soldiers assigned at the 3ID headquarters on the first day on Friday, March 8.
The following day a total of 1,444 blood bags were donated by the Army reservists, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) students, and civilians.
The simultaneous bloodletting activity was also held in various Community Defense Center (CDCs) in Western and Central Visayas as part of the 127th founding anniversary of the Philippine Army.
Major General Marion Sison, 3ID commander, said the activity was conducted in partnership with the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) dated September 2022.
Based on the MOA, the 3ID personnel will be the donors while the WVMC will facilitate the collection of blood and provide storage.
This activity, Sison said, aims to sustain ample blood supply to address the demand for blood especially for Army personnel who are rendered battle casualties or other medical conditions that need blood transfusion.
This initiative will likewise address the need for sufficient blood reserves during large-scale force mobilization in times of emergency.
Sison said that aside from blood donation, the 3ID also orchestrated a throng of medical and wellness activities to include other administrative services such as financial literacy and personal health.
Other services offered were healthy lifestyle booth, medical consultation, smoking cessation counseling, HIV prevention, nutrition and dietary counseling, laboratory services,mental and behavioral health counseling, oral health care, and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation updating, among others./PN
