She was 14 when one of her aunts died because of the disease. As a teenager, she couldn’t fathom what was happening and she was in deep emotional pain that she didn’t attend the funeral.
“I did not understand what cancer was, all I remember as a teenager, it wasn’t explained to me well, that if you have cancer, you’re going to die for sure. Seeing my tita lose her hair, and her health deteriorated, it really felt traumatic,” Davila recalled.
When her father was diagnosed with stage 1 bladder cancer, she realized that it can be treated if “you catch it early.”
“When they say that cancer is no longer a death sentence, that is true. But of course, according to doctors, the best way to cure cancer is to prevent it. Prevention is always the best solution. It takes a lot of effort and time,” she said.
Davilla was the guest of honor at the opening of Global Care Cancer Institute (GCCI) in Bay, Laguna on November 26. The institute is the very first stand-alone cancer facility in the Philippines with complete facilities, renowned medical talents, and care. It is accessible to the country’s capital and its nearby cities in Southern Luzon and is transforming the way cancer patients are treated with new means of understanding the disease.
“This is a miracle in itself. In the movie Field of Dreams, which stars Kevin Costner, the motto was ‘If you build it, they will come.’ And I would have to say that this institute is the very living example of that motto. It’s not easy to establish this kind of institute. I spoke with the doctors and the founders, this took a billion pesos to build. Not everyone has the guts to take the courage to take that loan to start this institute. First, you don’t know if you’re going to get your money, or when you’re getting your money back. It’s the very vision of having a free-standing cancer institute in Laguna, the dream itself. You know, the universe rewards the brave,” she said during the press conference.
Patients outside the country’s capital are challenged to receive the appropriate medical care but with GCCI, extensive oncological care can now be obtained even if you’re not in Metro Manila.
Established in 2018, this stand-alone cancer facility in Bay, Laguna, the institute aims to be the preferred center for holistic cancer care and management in Southern Luzon.
“Our mission and vision are to provide safe, timely, efficient, equitable, effective, patient-focused cancer care by expert, multi-disciplinary health care teams committed to delivering responsive, compassionate, comprehensive cancer management,” said Engr. Ricardo Celino, Board Member of GCCI and Overall Chairman of all Global Hospitals.
With its tagline “The skill to heal. The will to care,” GCCI has everything under one roof. “It has top-of-the-line facilities so you don’t have to go anywhere anymore,” said Oliver Perez, VP & Head of Diagnostic Imaging Siemens Headliners.
You are always sure that if you go to GCCI you will get the best-personalized care not only for cancer but even after cancer care. Staffed with trained oncologists, and medical specialists that provide service to the other pillars of oncology like surgery, nutrition, psychiatry, and more, this COVID-free facility is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for chemotherapy, radiation, nutritional guidance, minor surgery, and nuclear medicine.
According to GCCI President Dr. Necy Juat, “It’s like a home. It is like your home here in Bay. As you would be part of our family, we’ll treat you as one. Here, you will have a healing environment.”
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. In the Philippines, it has been one of the leading diseases that kill Filipinos.
In a study conducted by the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Human Genetics in 2018, 189 out of 100,000 Filipinos are afflicted with cancer.
Four Filipinos die every hour or 96 patients every day.
To know more about Global Care Cancer Institute, visit and like their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/globalcarecancerinstituteinc.