A FILIPINO IN GAZA: A STORY OF COURAGE AND PURPOSE

Juan Perfecto Palma thought he was prepared for it all. When he joined Doctors Without Borders in 2021, he was assigned to Ukraine. Just this May 2025, he was assigned in Gaza; he's back in Manila, ready for assignments where health care is needed.

- By PAUL M. ICAMINA

Palma spent two months in the Gaza Strip, the maximum duration of assignments for international mobile staff due to the high level of difficulty and the security context.

As a project medical referent, his role was to manage three health facilities run by Doctors Without Borders: one trauma and surgical field hospital with an in-patient bed capacity of 90; one primary health care center with a trauma stabilization point; and one wound dressing facility.

"When I accepted the mission in Gaza, I thought I was prepared. But then upon arrival and while I was there, I realized no one can ever be fully prepared for Gaza," he said in an online interview.

"I knew that it would be a tough mission due to the devastation in Gaza, but being there, and experiencing, seeing, and feeling the suffering of people make a huge difference. People in Gaza have suffered too much already."

Palma has seen some schools for children in the Middle Area of Gaza Strip where he worked. The schools resumed operations under the support of UNICEF, but classes are disrupted due to security threats.