Bell-Kenz Marks 20 Years of Making Lives Better with Sagip CPR in Quezon City

Anchored in its mission to advance heart health and life-saving care for Filipinos since 2006, Bell-Kenz Pharma opened its 20th anniversary celebration through a landmark partnership with the Quezon City Local Government Unit, bringing its flagship project Sagip CPR to the Quezon City Meeting, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (M.I.C.E.) to Make the Lives of QCitizens Better with vital Hands-Only CPR skills.

The flagship project, in partnership with the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (QCDRRMO), trained around 1,000 City Hall employees, Philippine Coast Guard personnel, and barangay health workers, to extend life-saving skills to ordinary citizens and bystanders during emergencies.

In her opening remarks, QCDRRMO Head Bianca D. Perez underscored the importance of the initiative, noting that one of the city’s priorities is to ensure its citizens, especially those at the grassroots level, are equipped with life-saving skills to respond to emergencies.

“Kapag may emergency na nangyari, bawat segundo ay mahalaga,” Perez said.

“But the truth is, emergencies do not wait for the right time or the right place. They can happen in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities, and sometimes to complete strangers,” she added.

Patrick Larraga, Corporate Branding and Public Affairs Head of Bell-Kenz Pharma Inc., said the Sagip CPR campaign in Quezon City marks a significant milestone for the company, as Quezon City is home to its business operations, and the event also opens its anniversary month.

Driven by its goal of training one million Filipinos in basic life-saving skills, Larraga said the campaign seeks to bring CPR closer to the grassroots, where ordinary citizens and bystanders often become the first line of response during emergencies such as cardiac arrest.

“Karamihan sa mga attacks, nangyayari malapit sa bahay o sa loob ng bahay, so if there's one family member to create an intervention within the first few minutes of attack then we can save lives,” Larraga said.

For Ritchie Ramirez, a public safety officer in Barangay Amihan and a first aid trainer at the Schools Division Office–Quezon City, the importance of immediate intervention became deeply personal after his son nearly drowned. He recalled that no one immediately came to his son’s aid because they assumed that, as a trained responder, he already knew what to do.

Seeing his son gasping for breath was a transformative moment for Ramirez, propelling him to commit to teaching CPR and helping save more lives.

“Malaking bagay na naka-attend ako ngayon dahil kahit papaano, nagtuturo ako ng first aid sa public schools. Bilang responder ng Barangay Amihan, mahalaga rin sa akin na ma-update ang sarili ko para ma-share ko rin ang natutunan ko sa mga kasama kong responders,” Ramirez said.

Building on efforts to equip more communities with life-saving skills, Larraga also announced the nationwide rollout of Sagip CPR through the Philippine Nautical Highway. The initiative will begin in Cebu City in July 2026, in time for National CPR Day.

Through this initiative, the Sagip CPR campaign will reach major transport hubs across the country, including ports, terminals, and busways, where large concentrations of commuters, workers, and nearby communities make emergency preparedness even more critical.

For more information, contact Xander Ceballos at xander.ceballos@bellkenzpharma.com or visit www.bell-kenz.net.

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