Mother helped by Isko before he was mayor visits him years after son’s surgery

A mother who was once helped by presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno visited him years after her son’s surgery.

In an interview with the media, Amy Bocaling said her son, Tuytuy, was suffering from biliary atresia, a condition in which the bile ducts are scarred and blocked, in 2018 when the boy was a year old.

“Nag raise po ako kasi hindi po namin halos kaya yung, P2 million po kasi yung raise namin na pang opera po niya. Ginawa ko po yung kaya ko po kasi namalimos din po ako sa palengke po para maabot ko yung P2 million,” she said.

(I tried to raise the money for the operation, P2 million, which we could not afford. I did what I could. I went begging at the market so I could raise the P2 million.)

According to Bocaling, her son was just given two years to live.

“Opo, marami naman pong tutulong kung sakali po kasi talagang desperado po akong maoperahan yung anak ko kasi yung taning po niya 2 years lang kasi.”

(Yes, a lot of people wanted to help. Because I was desperate to have my son operated on. He just had two years to live.)

Bocaling said Moreno helped her in 2018 when they were connected through social media before he was elected as the mayor of Manila.

She said her son received a liver transplant in India. Though he was now okay, Tuytuy needed a lifetime of maintenance medication.

“Nung bagong dating po namin galing India, dumiretsyo po kami sa kanya para mag pasalamat po,” she said.

(We had just returned from India, we went straight to Moreno to thank him.)

The mother and child were waiting for Moreno at the hotel he was staying at in Santiago City in Isabela, where they live.

“I’m happy today, salamat sa Diyos, at least malusog yung bata,” Bocaling said in a separate interview.

(Thank God, at least my boy is healthy.)

— DVM, GMA News