HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

By Primo Andres, MD’72

(copied from the 2015 Silver Anniversary issue of the USThomasian)

It was in 1987 during the USTMAA Midwest convention in Michigan that an historic unification meeting was called by Dr. Jose L. Evangelista, who was then the President of  USTMAAM and the incoming President of the Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA), in an attempt to unite all the regional UST medical alumni associations in the USA. In attendance were the Presidents and Thomasian leaders from the different states and regions of the country. Thus was born the University of Santo Tomas Medical Alumni Association in America. Dr. Rodrigo Floro of USTMAAM was made the first President of USTMAAA.

With the USTMAAA now safely entrenched after the deft planning by the founding leaders, most notably Dr. Jose L. Evangelista, the Founding Father of the Association, plans for more sustainable existence through long term investment to support projects in perpetuity was underway. The customary way of rendering help to UST then was funds were raised by groups and then given directly to UST to benefit a named project. While it was good, it was realized that it might not be sustainable. There had to be a better way.

It was from the fertile mind of a debonair and charismatic and energetic leader, Dr. Jose G. Vijungco, that the idea of establishing a foundation was conceptualized during the term of Dr. Nen Largoza as President of the USTMAAA in 1990-1992. Another historic meeting between Drs. Joe and Stella Evangelista, Dr. Nen Largoza, Dr. Boy Vijungco and the incoming President of USTMAAM, Dr. Gregorio Tolentino, took place during the annual USTMAAA meeting at the 1990 APPA convention in Washington DC. This paved the way to the formation of the USTMAAA Foundation. 

Dr. Jose Vijungco was the champion who began campaigning from the very outset. It was while doing a cerebral angiography that he was advised by a Neurosurgeon who happened to be the President of the University of Missouri Medical Alumni Foundation to ask for $5000 instead of only $100. He was shown the impressive “Wall of Honor” at the Learning Resource Center of St. Louis University. He then had to figure out how he could get to the goal of having each donor give $5000. The hard work of convincing other Thomasian medical alumni for support had just begun.

Drs. Jose and Stella Evangelista did not need much convincing and so did Drs. Dionisio and Zita Yorro who were of the same opinion from the very beginning that the way to go was to have a common vehicle to channel donations to UST and the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the Hospital in order to support bigger and more meaningful projects. It appeared that convincing other alumni would be an uphill battle and there was strong opposition from notable leaders who were content with the old ways of giving.

USTMAA Midwest was the largest gathering of  Thomasian Medical Alumni and it was felt that it was of paramount importance that its support be obtained. With the help of the Evangelistas and Yorros and the unselfish leadership of Dr. Jose Vijungco, they were able to invite Dr. Gregorio Tolentino, the incoming USTMAAM President, to support the fledgling Foundation. He was made the first President of the USTMAAA Foundation with the blessing of the President of USTMAAA, Dr. Nancianceno Largoza.

While the groundwork was set, there was still a lot of reticence and skepticism about the merits of the Foundation. Dr. Vijungco spent long nights writing 10-12 letters a night to Thomasians, but to no avail. He then resorted to calling people personally (this was before the age of Internet or facsimile machines or cellphones), racking up “phone bills that were bigger than my mortgage”. Through his exhaustive cajoling and unparalleled effort, he was able to convince 42 people to either donate or pledge and come up with $25,000, enough to finally register USTMAAA Foundation as a Non-profit Corporation in the State of Missouri on November 5, 1990.

The following strategy was adopted :

• Officers should be donors, first to register in any USTMAAA Convention, must shoulder overhead expenses, and observe “Transparency”
  
• There would be belt tightening and no distribution would be made until $500,000 was accumulated. The Dean and UST Administration were initially not receptive because UST had projects that needed to be funded, but they eventually understood.
  
• USTMAAA would be the fund raising arm and all convention profits would be channeled to the USTMAAA Foundation. 
  
• Campaign for $5000 payable in five years: $1,000/year, $250/3 Months ,$83.33/month or $2.78/day
  
• And so it was that the USTMAAA Foundation was finally launched during the 1990 APPA convention in Washington DC with a slide presentation discussing the goal of raising $1million with the first project being a cardiac catheterization laboratory in the UST Hospital. Appeal cards were distributed.
  

Those who saw the dream and invested early in the future of the USTMAAA Foundation are the following:

The USTMAA Midwest Chicago convention generated $12,000 and the Missouri convention raised $75,000 the following year. There was $265,000 in the coffers at the end of Dr. Vijungco’s term as President of the Foundation in 1992 and the first $10,000 deposit for the USTH cardiac catheterization laboratory was given and another $5,000 for an operating microscope was donated to the Department of Ophthalmology. 

It was not until the term of Dr. Jose Evangelista as President of both the Association and the Foundation in 1992-1994 that both were accorded their corporation status and received their tax favorable IRS 501(c) (3) status in May 1994. The organization achieved its exponential growth at this time. Dr. Stella Evangelista took over the day to day operations as the Executive Director of both corporations and the Evangelistas offered their office as the USTMAAA Executive Office at no cost to the organization. The first Grand Reunion and Medical Convention was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan in May 1993 generating over $100,000 that was turned over to the Foundation. The Constitution and Bylaws was formed. Charter membership was established and Chapters from different regions of the United States were invited to join. Through the incessant solicitation of “Joe” and the untiring efforts of Dr. Zita Yorro in collecting, and with the generous support of their classmates (the Magnificent Class of 1968), the initial goal of $1 million was easily within reach. That was when Dr. Jose Evangelista raised the bar by challenging the organization to shoot for $2 million, then $3 million and beyond. Other classes responded, like the Generous Class of 1969, and the USTMAAA Wall of Honor expanded with several generous individual and group donors accepting the challenge and the opportunity to help. 

There was some growing pain as well. USTMAA Southern California established its own Foundation that decided to give the proceeds of the California convention in 1996 directly to UST for the renovation of the Dean’s Office, contrary to the original agreement. While this initially created some tension, both organizations followed their own agenda that benefited the beneficiaries one way or the other. This tension has since abated and we are glad to welcome back our colleagues.

The concept of an Endowment Fund was adopted from the very beginning where the principal was never touched. It was invested and only the earnings were used to support the various projects of the organization. With over $5 million currently in the Endowment Fund, the USTMAAA Foundation has been disbursing over $100,000 a year. Since the inception, the Foundation has provided over $10 million to its beneficiaries, the USTH and the indigent patients that it serves, the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the medical students that it educates and the less privileged Filipinos through its various outreach programs.  The Foundation was instrumental in making the building of the Thomasian Alumni Center (TAC) a reality by raising over $1.6 million that was the seed money that catalyzed the construction.

What is in the future for USTMAAA and its Foundation? The future is very bright and limitless and it can go as far as the imagination can foresee. Thanks to the vision and perseverance of the pioneers who made it all happen. Special thanks to Dr. Jose Vijungco, the Father of the USTMAAA Foundation, whose boundless energy fueled the Foundation,  to Dr. Jose Evangelista whose unparalleled leadership paved the way to its growth, to Dr. Gregorio Tolentino and Dr. Nacianceno “Nen” Largoza, whose willing cooperation cleared the fertile ground upon which the Foundation could grow, and to the triumvirate of Dr. Stella Evangelista, the only Executive Director that the Foundation has ever known, and the dynamo of a couple, Drs. Dionisio and Zita Yorro, whose selfless dedication and enduring efforts were the driving force that brought the Foundation to where it is today. To them all , the Champions of the USTMAAA Foundation,we owe a debt of gratitude and we make this Silver Anniversary an opportunity to acknowledge all their efforts  in getting us to where we are.  Thank you!