For the last 17 years, Mario Maniego, 49, has been confined at the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC). He suffers from a spinal cord injury, a lifetime disease he has to bear.

Before his injury, Mario was a caretaker in a piggery in San Miguel, Bulacan. He was about to leave work last March 29, 1996 when he slipped at a greasy part of a pig pen. He then went through a series of check ups in his home province of Cabanatuan but the pain in his foot kept getting more and more serious, as if his nerves were being torn apart.