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Today we celebrated the Dr Lorenzo B Principe Clinic and Drugstore, Inc or DLBPCDI
Founder’s day. This is basically a day to celebrate Dr Lorenzo Principe’s contribution to society as one of the first physician’s in Calinan.
When the Clinic and Drugstore was first put up, it was situated in the ancestral house. That ancestral house was basically a running hospital with a small portion dedicated to the living quarters of the family residing there.
The ground floor was where the pharmacy was prominently situated and the main entry way, which is now an ukay-ukay was where the triage section was. A little off to the right was where Dr. Lucille’s (Dr. Lorenzo Principe’s daughter and successor) office was situated.
There was a hallway that led to the ground floor ward and it would exit out to a small courtyard which connected to the back portion of the ancestral home. This would be where the pedia, maternity and other wards were located.
The backmost portion was where John the then houseboy who is now one of the General Services main point of contact after he graduated slept.
It was a very tight place but it was thriving because it was situated in the heart of Calinan.
Smack dab in the downtown area.
Obviously that had to change.
But change did not come when Dr. Lorenzo B. Principe was still alive.
It came about after his death and through the initiative of Dr. Lucille to call her siblings together and have them unite under one banner to put up the DLBPCDI that’s located in Magsaysay today.
It’s been 8 years since Dr. Lucille passed away. But her efforts have not gone to waste.
Through sheer will power, she was able to push through with the construction of the DLBPCDI serving Calinan today.
It’s just sad that she was only able to serve the people for a short time in that new location.
Why Do We Celebrate Dr. Lorenzo Principe and Dr. Lucille?
These are two individuals who have served Calinan well in their official position as physicians.
Dr. Lorenzo B. Principe, based on stories I’ve heard from the family and from other people outside of the family, was a kind-hearted man. He was also a military man who grew up in the care of women.
This would probably explain his nurturing nature.
He was known to accept gifts in kind when his patients were unable to pay for his services. A chicken, a duck, a piglet. He accepted these and made no demands.
He was a doctor through and through.
One who wanted to serve and care for the people of Calinan to the best of his ability.
His daughter, Dr. Lucille probably saw these qualities in him and emulated it.
She too was a notable physician who specialized in Internal Medicine and took a step back from SPMC to serve Calinan as the Medical Director of DLBPCDI when she was needed to take over.
When she passed away, her daughter Dr. Margaux Regine Villanueva took over the reins.
She had just recently passed the board and was serving as a resident for the newly established Emergency Medicine Department for SPMC when circumstances forced her to cut her specialization short and serve as the Medical Director.
This journey has not been easy for my wife but she has persevered.
We celebrate them for their selfless acts of serving Calinan.
Founder’s Day – August 9, 2025
We were a bit late getting to Calinan because of the traffic situation and because we have an old pickup that can only go a certain speed.
Plus, I’m a rather slow driver.
When we got there, the priest was already present and ready to do the mass. There were a lot of attendees. Lyle and I stayed mostly in the Medical Director’s office because I needed to rest a bit. I had just come from a 9-hour shift and was groggy as hell.
We did get our meals delivered to us but we remained ensconced in the office because I really needed to rest and I didn’t have the energy to supervise him outside in the main area.
A little later, in the afternoon when the crowd had dispersed, we ventured out and Lyle started playing with the balloon display stands. Since the event was over anyway, I helped him take it down and allowed him to play with all those balloons outside.
He was very noisy as he was enjoying himself. It took a few minutes before I realized that there were a lot of kids in the pedia ward.
So I asked Lyle if he wanted to share his balloons with all the other sick kids.
He said yes.
I then proceeded to remove several balloons and used some straw to tie them together so he could give the kids a balloon each. We went to the pedia ward and he approached each one and gave them a balloon each.
A balloon can really brighten up a kids day.
I hope Lyle remembers that as a core memory and it becomes a part of him to be generous towards others like his great grandfather was to the residents of Calinan.
On Another Note, I’m Excited for Lyle’s 1st Quarterly Exams on August 11th-14th, 2025
Lyle’s First Quarterly Exams are coming up this 11th to 14th and he’s scheduled for the 11th which means we’ll have some really good rest after cause he won’t need to come in for the rest of days once he’s finished with his exams.
That means we’ll have to put in 15 minutes more of study time to make sure he understands his lessons and can answer them without any problems.
So far, he’s been making attempts to read.
The only thing that hasn’t really progressed well is his writing ability. And that’s because I am very inconsistent in my attempts to correct his writing hand position.
I wish I had more time and energy to really devote to him getting better at writing. His teacher is trying really hard at school too.
But that doesn’t mean that he will only learn how to write at school. I also have to make extra effort to teach him at home because no one else will do it.
If you’re interested to work here, these are the positions open:
