ICONS OF HOPE: Libet Virata

Elizabeth “Libet” C. Virata
Chairperson, Fund Raising Committee, ICanServe Foundation
Chairperson, Helping Women and Others (HWAO) Foundation

“My life hasn’t changed; it’s my awareness of life that has changed.”

When I was still in my teens, I was struck by the Sanskrit poem that begins:
“Look to this day,
For it is life — the very life of life
In its brief course lie the verities of your existence …”

When I got diagnosed with breast cancer in my early 50s, that poem took on a deeper meaning for me. When a friend asked me innocently how I was, I replied “Oh my life has changed!” and it suddenly hit me that this wasn’t really accurate. I corrected myself and said “My life hasn’t changed, it’s my awareness of life that has changed.” Because isn’t it true that it is only the day we awaken to that we can be sure of?

Our first encounter with cancer in the family was when our mother got diagnosed in 1996 when she was 61 years old. It took a year of seeing several specialists and undergoing scans and tests before we learned she had a type of ovarian cancer, which was later identified as probably peritoneal cancer (the kind that affects the tissue lining of the abdomen). She passed away four months after her diagnosis, but we made the most of that short period, attending to her closely, and spending more time together as a family.

So when I found out I had cancer in 2006, I turned melodramatic and thought, “Oh, great, I will die exactly ten years after you, Mom.” But I forced myself to trash that thought and focused, instead, on the positive — “You are letting me find out early so that I can beat it!” I would hold on to that thought while having the lumpectomy and the treatment; and I hoped that God still had plans for me!

It was actually my brother, Philip Cu-unjieng, who got me in touch with ICanServe founder Kara Alikpala, although I had already heard about the group from Bettina Osmeña whom I met with right after I got diagnosed.

PHILIP CU-UNJIENG, columnist: As a media person, I was there when ICanServe was launched; but of course, it became personal when Libet became a survivor. To this day, I’ll always have a soft spot for ICS and its efforts, cognizant of the uphill struggle it faces, with fatalities from breast cancer — which is eminently curable if detected early — still so high in our country because of so many socio-cultural and economic factors. My involvement stemmed from seeing how earnest Libet was in contributing to ICanServe’s fundraising activities. Our mother had succumbed to cancer — and even if it wasn’t because of breast cancer, I like to believe she was guiding me to somehow help Libet. That resulted in our conceptualizing and mounting Fashion Can Serve in over three years; finding ways to keep each iteration a little different, and finding enthusiastic fashion designers and corporate sponsors; who to this day, fondly recall the collaboration.

LIBET: The experience was a first for Philip and me to work together and I will forever be grateful for this. I am glad that he is now also a brother to this “sisterhood like no other.” In fact, ICanServe considers him as our honorary “sister,” thanks to his efforts in helping shed light on this disease, promoting the Foundation’s other events, and our advocacy for early detection.

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Photos by: Dan Rivera

Icons of Hope is a social media campaign that features cancer survivors who share their own stories, learnings and the lives they now live. It is part of ICANSERVE Foundation’s 25th anniversary celebration in collaboration with Camera Club of the Philippines. With thanks to Owen Santos and Zonia Bandoy.