About the Department of Neurosurgery
Mission
To improve the quality of neurosurgical care in the Philippines by providing world-class clinical care, training, and research. By constantly producing competent and compassionate graduates, the section aims to perpetuate the culture of patient-centered care to further elevate the standard of neurosurgical practice.
Vision
To be recognized as a leader in comprehensive neurosurgical care in the Philippines providing world-class patient care, training, and research
The MMC Department of Neurosurgery
The Department of Neurosciences has been in existence from the establishment of the Makati Medical Center in 1967, formed under the direction and leadership of Dr. Romeo H. Gustilo. Other early neurosurgeons who were part of the first generation of MMC neurosurgeons were
Drs. Victor Reyes, Mariano Torres, and Faustino Domingo, Jr.
In the early 1970’s, Dr. Gustilo’s constant assistant was then newly graduated neurosurgeon, Dr. Leovigildo Isabela, Sr., a product of the UST Neurosurgery program. By this time, other first generation neurosurgeons had moved from other institutions and became part of the MMC
Neurosurgery section. They were Dr. Leovigildo Isabela, Sr., Dr. Ramon Suter, Dr. Renato Sibayan, and Dr. Bienvenido Aldanese. With this new group, the MMC Neurosurgery training program was formally established to improve patient care, assist the country in producing fully trained neurosurgeons, and to complement the arrival of new technology in the center.
The first resident, Dr. Francisco Hernandez, completed his training in 1983 and became the Chief of the Section of Neurosurgery at Baguio General Hospital. The residency program has produced twenty graduates: Dr. Francisco Hernandez (1983), Dr. Victor Alvarez (1984), Dr.
Eusebio Debuque (1986), Dr. Raul Palma (1990), Dr. Leovigildo Isabela, Jr. (1991), Dr. Chester Jardiolin (1994), Dr. Roland Padilla, Jr. (1995), Dr. Ronald Cruz (1998), Dr. Michael Sabalza (1999), Dr. Carlos Francis Santiago (2003), Dr. Ian Sebastian (2004), Dr. Jean Quint Oropilla (2005), Dr. Anabelle Alcarde (2007), Dr. Jason Ranada (2011), Dr. Jay Villavicencio (2012), Dr. Dennis Baltazar (2014), Dr. Leo Anthony Acedillo (2016), Dr. Joma Excel Bravo (2016), Dr. Guillermo Victorino Liabres (2018), Dr. Timothy Josef Lao (2020), Dr. Byron Matthew Hontiveros (2021), Dr. Ian Ray Caluscusin (2022), and Dr. Emmanuel Debuque (2023).