Abelardo B. Perez, MD (1932 – 2007)

The Man we call Abe….

Abstract

By HOW he is remembered --- and by how much he is missed: this, I submit, is the ultimate measure by which we can gauge the impact of a man’s labor on his world and the import of his life on the people he left behind.

That Dr. Abelardo B. Perez will be remembered, there is no question. The fact alone that he had been in practice for close to four decades guarantees the grateful remembrance of at least a thousand patients whose afflictions he has healed, whose pains he has eased.

Likewise, he will be remembered wistfully by hundreds of what were once clear-eyed, smart talking young men and women who considered him at that time a terror to be avoided at all cost, but who-now older, thinner of hair and thicker around the waist – cannot praise him enough for providing them with the instruction and the discipline to become themselves, Doctors of Medicine, hopefully in the same mold, of the same class as Dr. Abelardo B. Perez.

But nowhere will the memory of Dr. Abelardo B. Perez be held in deeper reverence and in greater love than in the Philippine Board of Otolaryngology which he conceptualized, organized and institutionalized to elevate the specialization to the eminence it deserves. I should think that as the PBO was the passion of Dr. Perez’s life, in his death we should dedicate it as a monument to this gifted Head and Neck Surgeon.

Thus, will Dr. Abelardo B. Perez be remembered – as a long-time medical practitioner, an expert ENT specialist. A stern and no-nonsense professor, a dauntless champion of the crusade to keep inviolate the quality and the integrity of the Diplomate, the founding father and the moving spirit of the PBO and an indefatigable worker in the unending task of healing the wounds and easing the pains of Man and his world.

Yet the warranty of remembrance does not really assuage the sense of loss. It is well and good that the world remembers Dr. Abelardo B. Perez; but the knowledge that it does in no way mitigates the ache in Martha’s heart for the warmth of Abe’s touch or renders less difficult for us the task of administering PBO affairs without his counsel and guidance.

Indeed, the name of Dr. Abelardo B. Perez will long be remembered; but we will still sorely miss the man who looked eternally youthful, who loved good music, fine dining, pleasant company, who took such great joy in beholding the wonders of creation, in confronting the challenges of the world, in living life fully, with a song in his heart, in recognition of its preciousness and in gratitude for its gift… the world will remember the physician named Dr. Perez; we will miss the man we called Abe….