Dr. Marcelo Jaochico lost his heroic battle against the virus, he was being true to his vocation as “doctor to the barrios.” He was the provincial health officer of Pampanga and was the first awardee as Most Outstanding Doctor to the Barrios under the rural health program of the Department of Health. Thus, his daughter Cielo said in her Facebook page, Dr. Jaochico did not deserve to be regarded as than just a statistic.
Dr. Jaochico served as doctor to the barrio in Calanasan, Apayao for 16 years here he multi-tasked as obstetrician, pediatrician and family physician, treating such ailments as dengue, malaria and measles.
Once, to save a baby who had turned blue after delivery, he used his mouth to suction the obstruction out of the baby’s blocked windpipe. In his latest rural health service, he volunteered to attend to victims of the Taal Volcano eruption in Batangas in January. He was also one of the first responders when Typhoon Yolanda struck in Tacloban City in 2013. “He did so much for the country,” his daughter wrote on Facebook.