Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, 31 years old, a native of Aklan, was shot to his death while riding his motorcycle from a medical mission held in Lanao del Norte. He was in the Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) program and he had decided to stay in the area after his tenure. He allegedly came from a medical mission in Sapad, and was on his way home when he was shot by an unknown assailant. Efforts were made to take him to the hospital, but he was dead on arrival.
It was initially hard to get in touch with his relatives because he was deployed in a far-flung area and since his phone was locked, no one could get a hold of his immediate family. I can only imagine how they must have felt when they got the news of his demise. It is one of the terrible things that you hope you never get to hear.
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I’ve never met him, but he came from the same medical school I was from, and he was friends with many of my friends. Still, it does not diminish the fact that he’s gone, and too soon. Here was an idealistic young man who thought it best to serve in marginalized areas, and in the heat of the moment, he was gunned down like any other common criminal.
No leads on who did this, so far.
The Department of Health condemned this, and many netizens have taken to social media to talk about it and air out their grievances.
The gravity of the problem didn’t hit me until I was able to see, and write about it. And even talk to my DTTB friends who had been there. These guys are modern day heroes. The struggle and threat to life and limb is definitely real.
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March 6, 2017. Wear black for Drey. Wear black for Justice.
This Happy Light 