President’s Valedictory Address : Elizabeth Montemayor 2020-2021

I can still remember with clarity that particular day 8 years ago. It was late afternoon and I just arrived at our Condo in Robinsons Manila. I was still in the parking lot when I received a call from Dr. Delia Bayog. She was asking , correction, she was telling me to accept the nomination for the board and she was relentless. At that time, I was enjoying my newly acquired freedom from my thesis having finished and graduated from my MS in Clinical Epidemiology degree just a few months earlier. It took me 8 years to complete that. I wanted to have an easy and relaxed life. I was also the newly appointed chair of the Department of Physiology. I had many things on
my plate but half of that was a desire to have a relaxed life like many others. Is it a good time to accept more responsibilities? But a decision had to be made and I was reminded of the poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. The final stanza said:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference”

 

So I took the first step in the road less travelled. Coming to the board was the beginning. As Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning. keeping together is progress. Working together is success. “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

It is this working together that defines our society. You’ll be amazed at how many of our members came together. This year, there were more than 200 diplomates and fellows who were actively working in the society. Many of them were already fellows so they were not
motivated to work in the PSN just to have their status changed from diplomates to fellows. I’m sure that was not also the reason why diplomates joined. In fact, many of them had joined multiple committees. It was the spirit of giving. Indeed the spirit of service is very much alive in our society.

Bayanihan evokes a picture of men carrying a bahay kubo to transfer the house from one place to another. The women are seen on the sides cooking the food which the community will eat later. The word bayanihan can actually be found in Wikipedia and is described as a Filipino term taken from the word bayan, referring to a nation, country, town or community and refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective. Bayanihan is uniquely Filipino. And that’s what we have in our society. While many work to carry the Bahay na Bato, the rest are contributing the best that they can give to support the society. We do not literally transport the Bahay na Bato but we carry it in our hearts. Our Bahay na Bato houses our society built on the foundation of integrity, supported by all the members, the different training institutions, the researches, our advocacies. But the strength and treasure of the Society are really in its
members.

It takes 7 years for one as member of the board to become a president. How long is 7 years? If you started as a grade 1 student, you would have graduated already and well on your way to high school. In my case, I would have been in my 2 nd year high school since I graduated from a public school. For an elementary school student, 7 years seemed an eternity and many milestones had happened. But for someone in the Board, time appeared to have been forgotten because of the many challenges that we faced. These 7 years surely gave one enough preparation time to assume the presidency. And now as I leave the presidency, it seemed like the 8 years were just yesterday.

As you very well know, the kidneys are responsible for the tight regulation of our body’s internal environment whatever changes these may they be – big or small. Each kidney is made up of around a million nephrons and each nephron is made up of many segments and these segments work in concert with each other to perform the precise tasks that the kidney assumes for itself. There is no segment of the nephron which can be considered most important or most irrelevant. They are all equally important in the function of the kidney. The Board of Trustees is like a nephron with each member working close together. As I thank the members of the board of Trustees 2020-2021 for their dedication, allow me to pay tribute to the members of the board by describing them according to the segment of the nephron I perceived them to be.

Dr. Noel Castillo, our vice-president is like the distal tubule, responsible for the fine tuning of things. You saw how seamless our annual convention had been

Dr. Dingdong Biruar, our secretary is like the glomerulus receiving the burden of the work but able to sort out things which are essential and immediately bring them back to the body. As head of the cluster on Internal affairs, he took care of the concerns of our members and was able to segregate immediately the matters that needed immediate action

 

Dr. Ginger Samonte, our treasurer, is like the loop of Henle, responsible for the concentrating function of the kidney. Without it, water and solutes will be wasted. Dr. Ginger was responsible for conserving our resources and protecting our assets. As head of the Committee on Crisis management, she helped the society prevent wastage of life through promotional and preventive measures and preparedness in disasters.

 

Dr. Phel Esmaquel is like the juxtaglomerular apparatus. Like the macula densa, he senses the urgent needs and problems of the society and like the renin and adenosine that are released to bring back to normal the functions of the kidney, he unleashed his powerful essays that we used to speak for the society

Dr. Ric Francisco is like the proximal tubule, the work warrior of the nephron. As Head of the Cluster on patient care, head of the hemodialysis committee, and Chair of the Training Program Accreditation Board, Dr. Ric was one of the busiest persons in the Board. Thank you very much Ric

Dr. Vimar Luz is like the principal cell. This is also my favorite cell of the nephron. The principal cell is multi-faceted. On one side we have the V2 and the mineralocorticoid receptors, on the other side, we have the aquaporins and the eNaC. Dr. Vimar is a compleat Clinician, a zealous head of the cluster on publication and an enthusiastic organizer and performer of our fellowship
nights.

 

Dr. Arlene Lamban reminds me of the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle. I can imagine K dancing in and out of the cell through the NaKCl2 cotransporter and the ROM-K channel in the same way that I see Arlene dancing through the rigors of being a board member. The thick ascending limb performs the 1 st step in the formation of a concentrated medullary interstitium and that’s how Arlene stood out: promoting PD 1 st policy, and research as top priority in the society

Dr. Reden Silva is the medullary collecting duct. This is the last place in the formation of the urine and determines whether the urine is concentrated or dilute. While Den was the speaker of the Chapter Presidents, he also discerned which information or plans from the society will be distributed to the chapter presidents who will then distribute them to all the members

 

Dr. Beth Roasa is the afferent arteriole, constantly nourishing the society with her wisdom but buffering too when there too much pressure were coming in

Dr. Agnes Alba is the like efferent arteriole. The efferent arteriole plays a primary role in pressure natriuresis which keeps our blood pressure normal. As head of the Newsletter Dr. Agnes provided us with entertaining articles which made us so relaxed and proud of the talents of our members. As president of the PNSP she made sure that the concerns of our Pediatric colleagues were heard by the board of Trustees.

Dear members, this is your 2020-2021 Board of Trustees. Rest assured that you have a very efficient board that really worked for you. We are now celebrating our golden year. To our founders and the past presidents, thank you for planting the seed and nourishing it until it grew up to become this proud and noble tree. We are now sitting under the shade of that tree and enjoying the fruits of your labor. To the various chairs and members of the committees, again, thank you for committing yourselves to
continuously nourish this tree.

 

I also want to thank my colleagues and all our fellows past and present in the Division of Nephrology of the UP-PGH, for being so supportive. You’ve become part of my journey not just through PSN but through life. I also want to thank Rael, Rhea, Mark and Eric for the many things that they have been doing for the Society which remained largely unnoticed by most of
us.

I would like to make special mention of my family and thank them for their overwhelming support. My husband Fred is my cheerleader and my 4 sons Jay, Andre, Alexis and Jen and my 3 grandchildren Joaquin, Laura and Angelo are my sources of inspiration and strength.

 

And lastly, I want to thank my adviser, counsellor, mentor, my friend and my brother – Dr. Mike Alfiler. Thank you Mike for your guidance, words of wisdom and encouraging words. I am truly grateful.

Thank you everyone for your enduring support. My eight years with the PSN Board of Trustees
had truly been wonderful and rewarding.