Dr. Manuel N. Roco and wife Chong David

Dr. Roco's missions help
hundreds every year

Dr. Manuel N. Roco has a certain calmness about him. His relaxed and unassuming demeanor doesn’t allow him to brag about his accomplishments unless his wife, Chong David, prods him further.

Roco is a man of few words. But his charitable works in the medical field say a lot about his character and integrity as a dedicated father, a loving husband and a successful surgeon.

Co-founder of the Society of Philippine Surgeons and the 20th elected president of the group, Roco helped establish missions to the Philippines dubbed the “Medical Missions of Mercy.” Several of these missions are organized every year to help Filipinos in different parts of the Philippines. The Philippine government and the local Rotary Clubs then help out by advertising on the local radio stations and screening the applicants.

More than 300 people, the poorest of the poor, wait in line for several hours for their turn to receive medical care. The army of surgeons and nurses from all over the United States and Canada perform consecutive surgeries in two makeshift surgical tables, side by side, for five days.

Since the group’s inception in 1972, Roco has donated much of his time and money to surgical care and the purchase of medicine and supplies for the indigent people of the Philippines. A testament to this truth is a 40-foot container plopped in his 74-acre property in Centralia, Wash., which contains X-ray equipment, clothing and army medical surplus waiting to be shipped.

Getting the medical supplies to the right hands is no easy task because of the Philippine bureaucracy. Every year, Roco spends a month in the Philippines making sure that the medical supplies clear customs and reach their intended destination.

“The money I spend in shipping the container is almost the same amount of money I spend on ‘lagay’ (bribes),” Roco laments. But this does not deter him.

Born in the Philippines in a tiny region in Bicol, called Naga City, Roco is one of eight children of Judge Vincente Roco and his second wife. Having grown up during World War II, Roco’s earliest memories take him back to when he and his family fled their home in the middle of the night to avoid persecution.

Traveling by boat and by foot, the next few years of his life were spent in the mountains and on the sea, trying to evade the Japanese army, which was out to execute anyone who had any influence over the government. Roco’s older brothers from his father’s first marriage had joined the guerilla group, and helped the Roco family survive out in the wild until the Philippines was liberated by the American forces.

“I didn’t go to school during the war, and I really couldn’t recoup the things that I lost when I was a child,” said Roco.

Upon returning to Naga City after several years in hiding, Roco found himself attending a parochial school. “When I started schooling, I was put in the fourth grade without even knowing how to read and write!” he said.

In his youth, Roco was captain of the basketball team at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Naga. After high school, he moved to Manila to study medicine at Ateneo de Manila and University of Santo Tomas. In 1962, Roco, along with his first wife and their children, immigrated to the United States. He and his family hopped around different states during his internship and surgery training before finally settling down in Centralia. For several years, he worked at Morton Hospital, specializing in general surgery.

Roco retired in 1997, but continued to work at the hospital one day a week until June of this year.

Roco’s first wife, Nellie, passed away three years ago. They have four grown sons, one daughter and 11 grandchildren. One of the sons, Michael Roco, is an up-and-coming glass artist in Seattle.

After all these years, Roco’s passion for basketball still runs through his veins. The 66-year-old was a member of the “Life After 40” basketball team until two years ago. “He was the oldest player among the 40-year-old kids!” remarked his second wife, Chong David.

This summer, Roco and David were married with a lavish reception held at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. Though the couple shares a condo in the Seattle area with a beautiful waterfront view, Roco prefers to stay at his 8,000-square-foot home in Centralia. The property boasts 200 Asian pear and kiwi trees, a mini golf course and a driving range.

Roco’s humanitarian efforts have not gone unnoticed. His accolades include a VIP award given by Fred and Dorothy Cordova of the Filipino Youth Organization in Seattle, and he has been featured as a “Hometown Hero” in The Chronicle, a newspaper based in Centralia.

Roco, also a co-founder of the Filipino American Physicians of Washington, returned from a medical mission a few months ago. He will be going on a similar trip to the Philippines this December.

For his active involvement in medical missions and in building a bridge of understanding between the Philippines and the United States, Dr. Manuel Roco will be awarded this year’s Living Asian American Pioneer Award.