EPCALM's Swing for Hope Tees Off for Round Two

There are few words that can change the course of a life as quickly as "You have leukemia."

I know because I have heard them myself.

When I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2023, the diagnosis immediately changed the way I looked at time, family, work, and even something as ordinary as a blood test. What followed was a grueling period of treatment and months in confinement, punctuated by chemotherapy, radiation, blood and platelet transfusions, uncertainty, and the realization that getting through leukemia is never an individual battle. It involves doctors and nurses, family and friends, colleagues, blood donors, and an entire network of people willing to help you get to the next day.

But there is something else I learned along the way: leukemia is not necessarily a death sentence.

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Modern medicine has changed that conversation dramatically. Advances in chemotherapy, targeted therapies, diagnostics, immunotherapy, and hematopoietic stem-cell or bone marrow transplantation have given many patients options that simply did not exist generations ago. For some patients with aggressive forms of leukemia, a successful bone marrow transplant can offer the possibility of long-term remission and, in many cases, a second chance at life.

My own transplant became part of that story. Three years after receiving a bone marrow transplant, my latest tests conducted in Singapore showed no detectable FLT3 mutation or leukemia-associated mutations. It is a result I never take for granted.

It is also a reminder that behind every statistic about cancer survival is a person who wants to go home, return to work, see his children grow up, celebrate another birthday, or simply wake up tomorrow.

The science has progressed.

The harder question is whether every patient has access to that science. That is where organizations such as the Erwin P. Cabanag Adult Leukemia Ministries (EPCALM) Adult Leukemia Foundation of the Philippines become critically important.

For a leukemia patient, knowing that an effective treatment exists is only the beginning. There are medicines to obtain, diagnostic tests to undergo, hospital bills to pay, transfusions to arrange, and sometimes a transplant to pursue. The journey can be long, expensive, physically exhausting, and emotionally devastating, not only for the patient but also for an entire family.

The cruel irony is that a patient's ability to survive should not depend on whether a family can afford to keep fighting. Yet for many Filipinos, access remains the biggest obstacle.

EPCALM was established in 2005 precisely because adult leukemia patients need more than medical treatment. The organization describes itself as the country's first and only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to adult leukemia patients and their families. Its work extends across medical, financial, psychosocial, emotional, and spiritual support while also advocating for better access to healthcare and essential medicines.

Its approach recognizes something that anyone who has gone through cancer quickly discovers: healing is not confined to the hospital room.

There are moments when a patient needs financial assistance to continue treatment. There are days when a family needs someone to help navigate an overwhelming situation. There are times when a patient simply needs to know that somebody else understands what it means to hear the word "leukemia."

EPCALM's work includes medical and financial assistance, emotional and spiritual support, its EPCALM House in New Manila for transient patients and therapy sessions, and programs that build a community around patients and their families. Its recent activities have included providing medicines, voluntary blood donation programs, family gatherings, and therapeutic activities.

Lucerne Managing Director Emerson Yao hands over a limited edition Philip Stein Tubbataha Divers Watch to auction winner Tessa Prieto, who bought the piece to support the cause.

On September 21, 2026, EPCALM will bring that idea to the fairways with the 2nd EPCALM Swing for Hope Invitational Golf Tournament at Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club in Santa Rosa City, Laguna.

Held in observance of World Leukemia Awareness Month, the tournament is designed to raise funds for the EPCALM Hope Fund, which supports the organization's assistance and family-centered programs for adult leukemia patients.

Last year's inaugural Swing for Hope brought together 73 golfers, sponsors, donors, volunteers, celebrity supporters, and partners, with proceeds directed toward

EPCALM's Medical Fund. The second edition expands that same idea, turning a day on the golf course into an opportunity to help patients continue their fight. Lucerne Group donated a Philip Stein Evolution watch for the live auction. It sold for over P150,000, above SRP, to winning bidder Tessa Prieto, who also emceed the ceremony. Other celebrities who regularly support EPCALM also joined last year's maiden tournament.

One of the most important lessons of modern cancer care is that hope cannot simply be an abstract idea. It needs resources behind it: doctors with access to modern diagnostics, hospitals equipped for sophisticated treatment, medicines patients can actually obtain, and blood donors willing to give. When transplantation becomes an option, it needs the infrastructure, expertise, and donors to make that possibility real. Most importantly, it needs a support system that does not disappear when the medical appointment ends.

My own experience has changed how I think about survival.

However, there are no guarantees. Cancer is complicated, and every leukemia case is different. Modern medicine cannot promise that every patient will survive. But neither should we accept the idea that a leukemia diagnosis automatically means the end.

The goal should be to give every patient the best possible chance: making advances in medicine accessible, helping families who cannot shoulder the cost alone, encouraging blood donation, and supporting organizations that stand beside patients when the journey becomes too difficult to navigate alone. And sometimes, it means playing 18 holes.

The 2nd EPCALM Swing for Hope Invitational Golf Tournament will take place on Monday, September 21, at Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club. Golfers, corporations, sponsors, and supporters can participate in an event where the ultimate prize is not found on the leaderboard.

For tournament registration and inquiries, contact EPCALM's official website and contact channels, landline (02) 8727-5012, or mobile 0905-928-9896 or 0919-955-6149.

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