CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A pall of gloom hangs over the Capitol here as its health officer dies of symptoms of the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic alone on his hospital bed early evening on Tuesday.
Dr. Marcelo Y. Jaochico, provincial health chief of Pampanga, died two weeks after showing symptoms of Covid-19, the provincial Capitol said. A medical bulletin said Joachico died of cardiac arrest at 6:37 p.m. He was 56.
It was learned that the Department of Health has yet to release the result of tests to determine if the doctor was negative or positive for Covid-19.
A Facebook post from his daughter Cielo Jaochico said: “You deserve better than this. When you speak of him, please speak only of good words. Please do not remember him as someone who just died because of Covid-19.”
Dr. Jaochico served Pampanga as the provincial health officer since 2013. He graduated with a degree in Zoology from the University of Sto. Tomas. He then studied medicine at the Angeles University Foundation.
According to his daughter Cielo, “he juggled as a resident at the Manila Medical Center and teaching as a substitute instructor at Emilio Aguinaldo College to make ends meet.”
The younger Jaochico said her father was offered to work in the “Doctor to the Barrios (DTTB)” program of the government during the 1990s where he was assigned at Calanasan, Apayao for almost 16 years.
He was also offered a scholarship program at the University of the Philippines where he ended up finishing a Master’s Degree in Hospital Administrationcum laude at the UP-Manila College of Public Health
Dr. Jaochico’s wife whom he first met at the Emilio Aguinaldo College is also in the medical field and currently working as an overseas Filipino worker.
Because of his notable service in Calanasan, Apayao where he made medical services more accessible to people in remote areas, he received the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Memorial Award.
As provincial health officer of Pampanga, he started and even became a part of different projects for district hospitals and health centers.
Through his help, the province recently received the Gawad Kalasag for Best Provincial Risk Reduction Management Council in Central Luzon in 2019.
