(left) Staff Sergeant Jade Limbaroc, the police woman who breastfed babies in a day-care center in Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay. Corporal Mark Andrews S. Yamba, the nurse-policeman who helped a pregnant lady give birth while being rushed to a birthing clinic inside a patrol car. Photos by Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao
ZAMBOANGA CITY –– It was 2 a.m. and Corporal Mark Andrews S. Yamba, 34, was exhausted from manning a checkpoint in Ramon Magsaysay town of Zamboanga del Sur.
As he was about to rest, a couple approached him, asking that they be brought to the nearest hospital.
The woman, Gina Lumacad, was about to give birth, and she has been letting off fluids, suggesting her amniotic sac has ruptured.
Yamba took some of his team members to the patrol car and brought Lumacad to a nearby birthing clinic in Aurora town.
Worried about Lumacad’s situation, Yamba, a nurse, decided to facilitate the birth inside the patrol car while they were traveling.
“We no longer have time (as) her water bag broke, and if we still have to wait for her to give birth in the hospital, the baby may die of choking,” Yamba said.
Fortunately, Lumacad brought with her some blankets that Yamba used to wrap her baby with.
“I am happy to have helped her give birth to a healthy baby boy. We then turned her and her baby over to the hospital,” Yamba recalled those fateful moments last October 23, 2019.
Yamba is among the 10 cops recognized last Monday, Jan. 6, during the 26th Ethics Day celebration in the Police Regional Office 9 (PRO 9).
The honorees have distinguished themselves in doing the extra mile to serve the citizens, according to Colonel John Guyguyon, Deputy Regional Director for Operations of PRO 9.
Another honoree is Staff Sergeant Jade Limbaroc, a mother of two, who has turned into a surrogate mother for babies in a day-care center.
Limbaroc, a member of the Provincial Police Strategy Management Unit of Siay town, in Zamboanga Sibugay, is a mainstay in several day-care centers, breastfeeding the babies.
“We did some house-to-house visits and encountered an old woman, taking care of a baby. The child was hungry and there’s no milk, so I offered mine,” Limbaroc said.
“It’s the call of the time; when a situation confronts you with a condition like this, (helping to) give birth or breastfeeding other babies. Our cops … performed what was called for,” Guyguyon noted.
Guyguyon added that the situations for Yamba and Limbaroc were exceptional because these duties are not directly related to the enforcement of laws.
Aside from Yamba and Limbaroc, 10 other cops, including three senior officers were recognized. They are Corporal Winfred Cabañas, Staff Sergeant Warid Handang, Staff Sergeant Ghamar Sariul, Patrolman Elbie Orhen, Sergeant Major Ronald Kibrajosa, Staff Sergeant Abdurahim Sadamon, Patrolman Nursida Tinggalong, Colonel Restituto Pangusban, Captain Joel Adjar, and Colonel Homer Dumalag./lzb