By Jeffrey Damicog “He will always be our hero.” Leandro Castillo Resurreccion IV said this is how he will remember his dad, the country’s first pediatric transplant surgeon Dr. Leandro Resurreccion III. The younger Resurreccion posted on his Facebook page that his 57-year-old father passed away at 6:25 a.m. Tuesday, March 31, fighting against the COVID-19 at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila. “And I choose to remember him like this. Not only as a statistic in the current war we are fighting. Not only as a surgeon who pioneered for the nation. Not only as a father for his family. But as a Citizen of The World who cared for it and fought for it. He will always be our hero,” he wrote. Though his father was already a certified pediatric transplant surgeon when the family was still in Sydney Australia, he recounted that his dad chose to return to the Philippines when the country needed someone like him. “He did not do it for money nor for prestige, but because he was needed. He always embodied a kind of fiery passion for his profession but he always spoke of what the country needed with such passion,” read his post. With his dad becoming the latest frontliner to pass on fighting COVID-19, the younger Resurreccion appealed to the public to protect everyone by staying at home. “Let us not only protect our loved ones, but also our frontliners in this fight against this ravaging enemy. If we lose those who protect us, who else will?” The doctor’s son also called on the government to have “a more coherent plan in order to test everyone and to isolate.” “Let us break the chain,” he urged.