Ang Kalatas Volume V April 2015 Issue | Page 4

04 THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 5 Number 7 | APRIL 2015 NEWS Help comes for terminal cancer patient HOPE, help and lots of hugs have come her way. There is now a smile on the face of terminal cancer patient Jeanne Tiglao when community members, friends and complete strangers, reached out to her since she bared her story in AK last month. By: Marilie Bomediano SINGLE mum Jeanne, 43, has been stricken with terminal stage breast cancer. Life has not been easy for her family that has been struggling with a double blow – her eldest daughter, 16, has also been diagnosed with a life-threatening tumour. But the Pinoy spirit of ‘damayan’ has touched Jeanne and some are speaking of the same experience of battling breast cancer. Ms. Maryrose Salubre, 39, of Rosehill, has joined Jeanne in spreading an awareness campaign about the illness. Diagnosed with a breast tumour in 2005, Maryrose said she was impressed by Jeanne’s courage. “The tests on me showed I had a lump. I was in denial at first until it worsened six A According to a Philippine Society of Medical Oncology study in 2012, t the Philippines has the highest incidence of breast cancer in Asia and an estimated 3 out of 100 Filipino women will contract the disease before age 75; 1 out of 100 will die before age 75. This complements the Department of Health and Philippine Cancer Society, Inc. report, which states that breast cancer is the most common cancer in the country, comprising 16 percent of the 80,000 new cancer cases in 2010. months later,” said Ms. Salubre. As the organiser of the Miss Australasia 2015, Ms. Salubre said they had focused on breast cancer and early de- tection as a primary focus of the beauty pageant. Radio Bandila Alive 90.5 FM’s Fil-Aussie broadcaster Sheila Raptis has also respond- ed to Jeanne’s appeals and took on her own initiative to alert Fiipino-Australian groups to coordinate support for Jeanne. Mr Max and Espie Bables, a couple who are Nu Skin health-entrepreneurs has also advocated a dinner-dance fundraising for Jeanne, scheduled on April 12, at Pabico Club 55 in Mount Druitt. Another Fil-Aussie travel entrepreneur Hazel Urqueza of the soon-to-open Golden Globe Travel in Blacktown also offered Jeanne a job training and a possible income source by learning the Amadeus e-retail airline booking system. Jeanne has been without a job for some time now because of her failing health. Others stepped in with a hug like Australian entertainment director and singer-artist Lisa Budin-Price who hugged Jeanne tightly when they met Coral Mclean Recognition Awards FEDERAL Member of Parliament for Chifley, Ed Husic hosted a breakfast last month in TAFE Mount Druitt College of TAFE to recognise the selfless contribution of the women to the community. JULIE C. Nunez, OAM was named one of the recipients of the Coral McLean Award for 2015 at a breakfast event hosted last month by Federal Member of Parliament for Chifley Ed Husic. For many years since her arrival in Australia in1986, she has been an active member in various civic, social, and religious organisations whose aims and objectives are to help her fellowmen and women in the community in need of assistance. She is an active member of the Philippine Health Care Association of Australia (PHCAA), Ateneo Alumni Association, Australia (AAAA), Chavacano Association of Sydney, Buhay Dalisay Filipino Australian Association, Bilingual Community Educators Association, etc. Despite her busy work schedule, she has always tried to find time to assist and volunteer her services to various organisations in the community. Her contribution to the community is remarkable and she