ON the 5th of September, Pres. Fred & Menchu Pascual, PP Freddie & Jojo Borromeo, and Ferdie Ordoveza motored south of Manila, to Bay, Laguna, for a mid-week day of service. Bay is one of the project sites long served by our Club. Two activities had been programmed in coordination with our brother club, the Rotary Club of Bay, with whom we have collaborated on many humanitarian projects in the areas of health, nutrition, education and disaster relief. This time, we were covering three areas of focus: maternal and child health, with a supplemental feeding program; basic education and literacy, with a donation of bikes to poor students; and peace and conflict resolution and prevention, with a donation of bikes to local security forces. Supplemental Feeding We initiated two modules of our supplemental feeding program for a total of 60 undernourished children in two barangays in Bay—30 in Brgy. Puypuy and 30 in Brgy. Sto. Domingo. The launch took place at the Municipal Hall, with the beneficiaries and their parents in attendance. The first feeding projects for this year, the two modules bring to 132 the total number of modules and to nearly 4,000 the total number of kids covered by the program since PP Freddie started it in RY 2004-2005. It is also the second feeding project in Bay in the past year, with the last one launched in September 2017 during the term of IPP Jun Jun Dayrit. Per project design, feeding will go on every day for six months and will end in January 2019. As in the past, we are partnering with Kabisig ng Kalahi for the entire program and, for these particular modules, with RC Bay and the municipal government of Bay. In the program, Ms. Vicky Wieneke of Kabisig gave an overview of the project while PP Freddie impressed upon the parents the value of good nutrition especially for the young and how people can eat healthy without having to spend a lot of money. He spoke of brain foods and nutrients derived from vegetables, and made them understand what Rotary is doing for them—kick-starting a nutrition program that they themselves should continue after the prescribed 6-month feeding period. For his part, Pres. Fred Pascual emphasized the importance of organizations coming together for a good cause—in this case Rotary, Kabisig and the government—and the value of good nutrition in ensuring that every child has a fighting chance at doing well in school and later, in life. He also made the parents understand that Rotary help is not forever and that they need to help themselves by using the lessons they learned to their advantage and that of their children Bikes to School Project Partnering with RC Bay, we gave away 100 bicycles, the most we’ve ever given, to as many students from two high schools—Masaya National High School and Bitin National High School, and to the security force (tanods) of 15 barangays in Bay. The bikes donation to students is an RC Bay’s project that aims to stem the rising tide of school dropouts in the town. This was traced to poverty—the fact that many students often have no money for transportation, prompting absences which in turn constrains them to stop schooling altogether. In 2008, as fate would have it, PP Freddie Borromeo, offered the bikes to RC Bay Pres.Gary Hidalgo, who saw it as a godsend at a time when the incidence of school dropouts was on the rise. This led Pres. Garry to initiate SARDO—Students At Risk of Dropping Out, which RC Makati’s Bikes to School Project provided a perfect solution to. The donation to the barangays, on the other hand, makes possible better mobility for the members of the local security force. The bikes we give away are donated to us by the NPO Wind of Asia, a Japan-based organization, through Rtn. Masaaki Oshima, and the Bicycle Parking Facilities Provision Foundation. The project has been handled by our project chairman Hiro Oba since its inception in 2008.

TYPHOON Ompong, packing winds of over 200 kph, made landfall in Bicol on the 15th of September to wreak havoc over a 900-km area across northern and central Luzon with its weapons of destruction: rains without letup and whipping winds. By the time it was done, thousands of families had fled to evacuation centers, in need of food, clothing, medicine and sleeping stuff. Its worst toll: 78 dead in a landslide in the village of Ucab in Itogon, Benguet, not far from Baguio. The Disaster Relief team, headed by Chair Chris Ferareza and PE/Dir. Bimbo Mills, both old hands in disaster relief work, was in full alert at once. The committee quickly coordinated with RC Baguio Summer Capital through the connection of PDG Sid Garcia with PDG Oyan Villanueva who got us connected to the club president, Anton Baltazar. Losing no time, the two clubs went to work. The Club quickly activated its partnership arrangement with Puregold supermarket. Initiated by PDG Pepito Bengzon during his term as district governor of D3830, the Puregold connection worked to pack 500 hygiene kits containing soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, alcohol, toilet tissue and hand/face towels. The Club also ordered 500 blankets and received 700 pairs of sandals from Dir. George Barcelon. On September 20, Rtn. Drexx Laggui and CoS Ron Dotaro motored to Baguio where they met with the members of RCBSC and mapped out the relief ops in four evacuation/calamity sites – Tuding ITC, where most of the evacuees were housed, and three sites in Ucab - KKMI Church, RBCF Church and Lower Gomok RC Baguio Summer Capital Pres. Anton hosted dinner for the volunteers and the members of RCBSC hosted a fellowship dinner at the Baguio Country Club. While in Benguet, a request came in from Pres. Marlon Lapid of RC Vigan, a brother club of ours, for support in the relief ops in Brgy. Mindoro, a coastal barangay in Vigan which was battered by Ompong. The Club immediately dispatched P25K worth of relief goods, which the Vigan Rotarians distributed to 88 families on September 23. The relief ops for Ompong were in honor of PDG Robert Kuan who passed away on the very day the super typhoon struck. PDG Robert had actively supported schools and communities in Baguio through his gift-giving and substantial contributions to the Adiwang Elementary School, and as an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Vigan. Thanks are due to PDG Oyan for sponsoring Drexx’s accommodation at Venus Hotel in Baguio and to RC Makati Poblacion (led by Pres. Marites Di) for donating P15,000, which bought 75 bags of hygiene kits. The Club’s kind assistance to communities in Itogon and Vigan was made possible by the generous and timely donations from our members: cash donations of P220,000--PP Joe Alejandro, PP Felix Amparo, Felix Ang, Toffy Concepcion, Dir. Michael Escaler, Chris Ferareza, Vic Floresca, Sec. Eddie Galvez, Wilson Lim, Wash Lou, PN Peter Manzano, PE Bimbo Mills, Manny Padiernos, Johnny Sy, Johnson Tan; and 1,200 pairs of sandals from Dir. George Barcelon.

RC Makati joined hands with our two club-sponsored partners—the Rotaract Club of Makati (RAC Makati) and Rotary Community Corps Bukluran (RCC Bukluran) for an End Polio Walk through Camia and Amapola Streets on October 27.The activity aims to raise public awareness and knowledge of Rotary’s most sweeping health initiative: End Polio Now, RI’s global program to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. By happy coincidence, it was in the Club’s premises in Guadalupe Viejo, where our clubhouse currently stands, that the seed of Rotary’s polio program was sown in September 1979. This historic event took place when then RI Pres. James Bomar administered an oral polio vaccine to a Filipino boy during an immunization activity of the Club, effectively birthing the PolioPlus program. As the program progressed and gained more traction, effecting the eradication of the disease in one country after another, it eventually evolved into End Polio Now. This year’s End Polio activities constitute a push leading to next year’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of the birth of the program. Today, only two nations stand in the way of total success for End Polio—Pakistan and Afghanistan. To inject fun to the occasion, the Club threw in a second activity, Trick or Treat for some 70 children in the Guadalupe Viejo neighborhood, under the guidance of RCC Bukluran. The Walk ended at the RCM Clubhouse grounds, where a brief program was held. IPP Jun Jun Dayrit spoke briefly about the End Polio Now campaign, from its inception 39 years ago to its dramatic progress through the years. Also in attendance was VP/Dir. Louie Aseoche. The children, properly costumed, enjoyed burgers from Jollibee and received loot bags with the usual treats: assorted candies. Adding more fun and excitement was a contest where four children won cash prizes for wearing the best costumes. Present were RAC Makati members Mark Gil Cato, president; Prame Cato, Rey Buyco, Jazel Villanueva, Rosanne Arado, Roi Cloma, Jamaica Isla, Daisylyn Paquiao; and RCC Bukluran members headed by their president, Frisco Guarin.

THE PSP is on! PSP, for anyone not in the know, stands for Partnership in Service Program, a facility that this year is making available P10 million for grants to fund projects of partner Rotary Clubs, with priority given to those in District 3830. The fund is provided by our Makati Rotary Club Foundation Inc. and the project is administered by RC Makati. Pres. Fred Pascual together with PP David Ackerman, vice-chair of the Partnership in Service Program, PDG Pepito Benzgon and Don Lino, authorized PSP Representative for the project, presided over the turnover of the first grant—in the amount of P100,000—to the Rotary Club of Makati Salcedo at the Tower Club on October 17, with RCM Salcedo Pres. James Lago doing the honors for his club. It is serendipitous that the first PSP-funded project is in the area of focus most favored by Pres. Fred Pascual –Basic Education & Literacy, a preference explained by the fact of his being an educator and the immediate past president of the University of the Philippines. The RCM Salcedo project is a library at the Mendoza Memorial Elementary School in Brgy. Lareg Lareg in Malasiqui, Pangasinan. The library, to be equipped not only with traditional materials such as printed books but also with up-to-date digital content, is designed to serve some 770 students in Mendoza Memorial and in schools nearby. Construction is scheduled to start this month and is projected to be completed in mid-January 2019. The project is also being supported by the Rotary Club of Bandar Sungai Petani in District 3300-Malaysia, which donated USD2,000 and books. The PSP Committee is now deep in work processing applications for PSP funding and has in fact approved a number of funding requests from other Rotary Clubs. One of those approved is a project of the Rotary Club of Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna in District 3820. It is headed by Pres. Noel Divinagracia and CP Renalyn Ninthyananthan, Ann of our member, David Ninthyananthan. The project for which funding has been approved will allow indigent out-of-school youth to study and gain necessary skills in vocational courses at NCST-IIRT in Dasmarinas, Cavite. In keeping with the project design, IPP Jun Jun Dayrit, MRCFI chair, and PP David Ackerman, vice chair, drove to Sta. Rosa on the 18th for a look at the project site. Another feature of the PSP project design is to assign an RC Makati member to liaise with the partner club to keep communication lines open and to keep tabs of the progress of the project; that job has been assigned to David Ninthyananthan. On the 22nd, during the launch of the On-to-Hamburg campaign, Pres. Fred signed another MoU with and handed a check to the Rotary Club of Makati Bel-Air for yet another PSP-funded project, the third so far. Roger Collantes has been the appointed representative for this project. Today, another three MoUs will be signed and checks will be handed to as many clubs: RC Circuit Makati, RC Paranaque Central, and RC Paseo de Roxas Magallanes to fund their respective PSP projects -- solar energy supply for a barangay in Porac, Pampanga; a livelihood project for a relocation site in Muntinlupa; and a library for an elementary school in Urdaneta, Pangasinan. This is “doing good in the world.”

Some 60 supporters of Rotary Homes gathered at the City Club Lounge on Ayala Avenue on October 16 for the Rotary Homes Members’ Night, an annual event aimed at presenting to members an update on the program of the Rotary Homes Foundation and a progress report on the work done in Rotary Homes. One of the highlights of the event was the turnover to PDG Sid of our donation of P400,000 for two housing units. This latest donation brought to 14 the number of houses donated by the Club so far. Rotary Homes is a community in Paranaque jointly built by RI District 3830 and the city government of Paranaque. It has two complementary objectives—one, to revive the moribund Paranaque River to its pristine condition by enticing the families that have settled on its banks and polluted it to move out; and two, to build a community for said families to settle in and live decent, self-reliant lives. At the helm of the project is PDG Sid Garcia who chairs the Rotary Homes Foundation. The Members’ Night event was thought of to attract new members and new supporters while encouraging members to actively contribute to the work by signing up in a committee or two. And of course, as always, it is a platform for fellowship among RH supporters within and outside Rotary. Membership in Rotary Homes costs P2,000 per annum. The program began with an inspiring invocation by PE Ben Valdecanas of RC Makati Dasmarinas, in which he thanked God for His presence in hard times “so that we shall lean on You,” on bright and sunny days so we can share what we have with those who have less, and on holy days, when we celebrate our families and friends. He asked that God speak for those who have no voice, heal those who are in pain, keep the lonely company, shower the depressed with hope, help us provide for the needs of others and give the world that which it needs the most: peace. This was followed by a report on the status of Rotary Homes by PDG Herman Gamboa, a community assessment report—number of families, number of jobless, type of jobs, etc.—by PDG Sue Sta. Maria, and a presentation by PDG Sid on the evolution of Rotary Homes, from its inception in 2010, through its teething and growing-up pains, to its present state as a lived-in community with many amenities and services. Rotary Homes has come a long way from what it was when the City of Paranaque donated a 4.6-hectare property in Brgy. La Huerta as the site of the RH community. With support from individual and institutional donors, notably Rotarians and Rotary Clubs here and abroad, the community was built from the ground, unit by unit, brick by brick. A total of 238 housing units have so far been built and turned over to the informal settlers who had polluted the Paranaque River to near death and because of Rotary Homes became proud homeowners for the first time in their lives. With the goal of developing the place into an integrated community, the RH Foundation has put up a number of facilities meant to enhance the living conditions in the place. Every effort has been made to assess and meet community needs. The place is secured with a gate and perimeter fence. Basic utilities are provided—there is electric power to light up houses and streets and run home appliances; there is clean water running from pipes and into faucets in the homes; and there are e-connections to run electronic devices. For the children, there is a day care center donated by Standard Insurance and a playground where they spend time doing what children do and ought to do—play. There is also a library that serves as a resource center for students and other learners and a health clinic that addresses basic health needs--both donated by Rotarians from District 3490-Taiwan. There is also a multipurpose hall that serves as venue for lectures, seminars and workshops as well as social gatherings. There are spaces for residents to build pocket gardens of ornamentals and/or vegetables. The community’s spiritual needs have not been forgotten either. PDG Sid has seen to it that the facilities menu included a multi-faith/non-denominational place of worship, built courtesy of St. Luke’s Medical Center. Medical missions are periodically held in the community and in December, Rotarians from various clubs schedule gift giving activities and Christmas parties for the children. PDG Sid ended his presentation with the Foundation’s vision of the future—a plan to apply this same Rotary Homes concept to a project to resettle informal settlers in Laguna de Bay to a community of their own in Muntinlupa. There to lend support to PDG Sid were PP David Ackerman, who emceed the program, VP/Dir. Louie Aseoche, Chito Cantada, IPP Jun Jun Dayrit, Chris Ferareza, PN Peter Manzano, PE Bimbo Mills, PP Reggie Nolido, Manny Padiernos, PDG Tony Quila, Dir. Derrick Tan, and PP Roland Young.

We have just kicked off a new round of our “Stop TB Now,” the program by which the Club seeks to save young children from the debilitating effects of juvenile tuberculosis, a.k.a. primary complex. This is the third round of treatments funded by a USD85,000 global grant released by The Rotary Foundation (TRF) to the Club during our 50th year, when Eddie Yap was president. Its implementation began in 2016-2017 during the term of PP David Ackerman and was carried through last year during the incumbency of IPP Jun Jun Dayrit. This new round, launched on September 29, covers 100 children in four barangays in Baliuag, Bulacan—Makinabang, Piel, Sta. Barbara, and Sto. Cristo in partnership with RC Makati Business District and RC Baliwag. Present at the launch were Pres. Liza Timbol, CP Mache Ackerman, and IPP Tess Castro of RC Business District and members of RC Metro Baliwag headed by Pres. Malou Sta. Juana. Ann Mache Ackerman delivered an inspirational message, while Dr. Carol Dellosa of RC Metro Baliwag gave an overview of tuberculosis—its causes, symptoms and treatment. RC Metro Baliwag provided snacks and lunch for the kids and parents, as well as prizes for the games. They also hosted lunch for the Rotarians. RC Makati, for its part, gave the children slippers left over from the Usbong Katutubo event held on September 20 in Porac, Pampanga. The Baliuag run brings to 767 the number of children so far treated under the global grant, which includes kids in San Andres, Manila; San Martin de Porres in Parañaque; Calapan, Oriental Mindoro; Baliuag, Bulacan; Alabang; and 30 other NCR communities in Luzon; and Dumaguete City; Tacloban City; Bacolod City in the Visayas. Opened to other clubs, it had three other clubs in D3830 signing up as participants: RC Alabang; RC Makati Business District; and RC Palanyag-Paranaque. The program prescribes a cocktail of medicines to be taken by patients every day without fail for six months, until March 2019, after which they shall be weighed to see if they have attained the desired weight for their age. The method of dispensing the meds is the directly observed therapy-short course (DOTS), which directs a person to personally dispense the medicines to the patient, to make sure the meds are taken every single day. Missing a day’s medication puts the patient at risk of developing multi-strain TB, which is drug resistant and requires a more stringent and costlier treatment.

It's like a blind person who can see for the first time. That is what it was like last Saturday, April 21, for the Aeta community of Alunan in Tarlac when lights were turned on in their houses, a gift from Project Liwanag, an NGO dedicated to lighting up communities in remote areas that had been in the dark, literally, all their lives. Project Liwanag (PL) is a grand undertaking by a group of young men and women who, having seen first hand how lack of illumination deepens further the dire situation poor communities find themselves in, have taken it upon themselves to make a difference in their lives as catalysts. One of the drivers of the group is Raphael Galvez, son of Ai-Ai, who a few weeks ago opened our eyes to their project and solicited the Club’s help. Impressed with the project, our members responded, signing up for pledges that totaled P151,000 after only a few minutes. It was, as it turned out, the start of the Club’s involvement in the project Last Saturday, Pres. Jun Jun & Cecille Dayrit and Jun Jun’s brother Ignacio, together with Ai-Ai & Rose Galvez with their children, and Drexx Laggui and his kids motored to the project site-- Sitio Alunan, Brgy. Sta. Juliana in Capas—to see for themselves how the project is impacting lives. Also making the trip were Mark Banal, Mark Cato, Prame Cato, Daisylyn Pacquiao, Johannalyn Pacquiao, Luigi Cato, Kristelle Johnson and Elena Gana, members of the RC Makati-sponsored Rotaract Club of Makati. Situated in the middle of a Abellen mountain range, Sitio Alunan has a population of about 1,100 persons, or 210 households. Some 106 households have been energized under the project. In addition, 621 households in eight communities now have solar lighting; 136 Aetas now have birth certificates; five gabi (rootcrop) plantations, two banana plantations and two people organizations have been put up. The project has also built a community school and a water project that provides clean water; there is also a nutrition program for the children. With the support of its sponsors, One Meralco Foundation, Meralco Corporate Partners, and RC Makati, Project Liwanag hopes to light up more communities and open the people to opportunities for a better life.

The Covid-19 pandemic, with all the limitations it has imposed on us, expanding the list of things we cannot do and places we cannot go to, could very well be an excuse for us to slow down or even to all together stop. Instead, it has spurred us to hasten our pace, to think up more ways to get things done, to stretch our mental and heart muscles as well as our resources to bring more help to more people. The pandemic has brought home the message that Rotary allows no rest (it’s a 24-hour job, as a past president once said and as Pres. Peter Manzano is now discovering) and that the more difficult the situation, the harder Rotarians must work. Indeed, that we must work more than ever the harder times get, particularly for the people who depend on us for help. This year, Pres. Peter decided to spread our service wings wider to reach more of our kababayan who have been most impacted by the losses brought on by the pandemic, losses that have made it more burdensome to put food on the table and maintain the little roof above their heads. His preferred manner of spreading RCMakati’s wings is by partnering with other clubs on projects under Rotary’s 7 Areas of Focus. On such project is Bike2WorkBuddies, a livelihood project designed to benefit low-income families in Paranaque-- heads of families, breadwinners, displaced workers who need a bicycle for their chosen self-employment, government employees like barangay tanods, security guards, janitors, street cleaners, construction workers, restaurant cooks and service crew, market vendors, and ambulant vendors, all known to walk to and from work. Launched last October 3rd at the BF Homes Pavilion in Paranaque City, Bike2WorkBuddies (B2WB) is a joint project of RC Makati with four Paranaque clubs—RC Paranaque Metro, represented at the launch by Pres. Wheng Reyes and PP Lilibeth dela Cruz, RC Paranaque Metro South, represented by Pres. Rose Velarde and IPP Brenda del Rosario, RC Paranaque Midtown, represented by Pres. Nicole Balinas, and RC Paranaque St. Andrew, represented by Pres. Dani Delfin. Also present with Pres. Peter Manzano were First Ann Pam and Rtn. Sonny Tambunting Jr. The project has several components—one, the donation of brand-new bicycles to 55 beneficiaries selected by the participant RCs; a rapid savings mobilization scheme under which the recipients will donate amounts to build a fund to be used for community projects; community service under which the recipients will be invited to volunteer in Rotary projects. Total budget for the project is P340,000, half of which was RC Makati’s contribution, with the rest shared by the four other participant clubs. The bikes, all brand new, are MARU Yamato 26” standard size carbon steel frame, 7 gear, with a V brake; equipped with standard safety helmets, lights, and bike locks. The beneficiaries are required to complete a learning session, online or face-to-face, on responsible cycling and sign an undertaking to abide by the Rotary Cyclist’s Creed. They shall also attend a one-day seminar to get them oriented on the Rapid Savings Mobilization Campaign. The funds generated by the savings groups shall be used as a “pay-forward” scheme for the continuation of the “Bike2Work Buddies” project; they may also opt to use part the funds to develop entrepreneurial activities for their respective groups.

Last Thursday, September 26, Pres. Peter Manzano and PVP Sherwin Torres of RC Makati Southwest launched a joint project – Basic Education and Literacy Project to provide material assistance to a school in Rodriguez, Rizal and a community of the Dumagat/ Remontado tribe. Marking the kick-off was the turnover of a check for P50,000 from Pres. Peter to PVP Sherwin in the presence of PP Hermie Patrimonio of Makati Southwest and First Ann Pam Manzano. Also turned over was the first batch of printed learning modules. The project calls for the provision of printed learning materials to the 250 students of the Puray National High School and tablets to a select group of poor but deserving students belonging to the Dumagat/Remontado tribe and the Puray High School. The tribal families are among the country’s poorest of the poor. Subsisting on a measly P200 a day from planting bananas and making charcoal and selling them in the neighboring town of Montalban, it is clear that their financial standing does not allow them to provide for their children’s school needs, particularly in these demanding pandemic times. Seeing how dire their situation is, the two clubs decided to pool their resources and band together to help ease their plight. Per agreement, Makati Southwest will provide 14 tablets to selected and deserving students and pay for the printing of modules for Math, Science, Filipino and English subjects.

It is not usual to find Makati Rotarians at the far side of town, such as at the University of the Philippines Oval in Diliman, Quezon City, but there they were, in the middle of the expansive field, at mid-afternoon on August 26—Pres. Peter & Pam Manzano, PP David & RCMBD CP Mache Ackerman and nine others. It must have been something special, a pretty important event. It was, actually. It was the launch of “Light It Forward,” a project that aims to light up the world where it is dark, where electricity has yet to change lives and lifestyles with the convenience it brings. CP Mache’s club, our daughter club RCMakati Business District, is spearheading the project. It is almost unbelievable that in this day and age, dominated by technological advances that boggle the mind, there are still places that live in darkness. Imagine 94 million people in the world have no access to electricity. And 16 million of them are on our own shores, our kababayan. The mission of “Light it Forward” is to provide lamps to communities to whom darkness is a fact of life. The primary beneficiary is the Usbong Katutubo Aeta Community in Porac, Pampanga, which was the recipient of a package of humanitarian services delivered by a group of Rotary Clubs from District 3830 during the term of PDG Al Montecillo in 2018-2019. With support from Rotary club and corporate sponsors, the project shall provide solar lamps to light up the homes of Aeta families as well as common areas such as streets. That solar lamps are being used is significant as it shows the proponents’ grasp of the need to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. It is a take-off from “Liter of Light,” a brainchild of Illac Diaz, also of RCMBD. At the launch, solar lamps shall be used to form drone shots that carry messages of hope and images of the Rotary wheel and the Philippine flag as part of a public image campaign in support of front-liners in the fight against the pandemic and of those who have succumbed to COVID-19. The lamps would then be collected for distribution to unlit communities. RC Makati has signed on as a sponsor, with a donation of 80 lamps valued at P130K. Other levels of support for Rotary Clubs are P65K/40 lamps for host clubs, P8K/5 lamps for co-hosts, and P1,600/1 lamp for an advocate. The other clubs/organizations that have signed up are RC Makati Nielsen, partner; RC Makati Premier District and RC Bonifacio Global City, co-hosts; and Happy Heart Foundation, Triumphus, Kyani Caring Hands, Rotaract, Interact, Walk the Talk, UNESCO and UP, partner organizations. Also in attendance were CP Carol Mercado and IPP Kate Bellosillo of RCM Premier District, Illac Diaz, Mica Torres-Cruz, Lesley Geronimo, and Rio Ciocon of RCMBD, Daniela Torres-Cruz of RAC RCMBD, and Bert Madrigal and Kiko Diaz of the UP College of Human Kinetics.

Pres. Peter Manzano and PE Louie Aseoche motored to Sucat, Paranaque last Thursday, July 23, to pay a visit to Stepping Stone, the school for special-needs children that the Club has been supporting for decades and is committed to support in years ahead. The reason for the visit was to turn over to Stepping Stone President Rodrigo Segura a check for P500,000, the first tranche of the Club’s P1.2 million donation pledge to the school for the upcoming school year. Also present at the turnover were Executive Director Dayal Nandwani and Academic Head Joana Brion. The donation is earmarked for expenses in connection with requirements for the new online learning scheme that is to be put in place this coming school year, a system prompted by the stringent health protocols called for by the Covid-19 pandemic. After the check turnover, the guests were given a tour of the three-story school building and the facilities the school offers for a wide spectrum of special education services—occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, special and regular classes. The school also offers Tesda-accredited vocational courses for Barista, Cooking and Housekeeping, training that has led to some graduates being employed in hotels and restaurants. A Center for Excellence in Special Education, Stepping Stone “takes care of children with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, using or modifying the general education curriculum to meet the child’s individual needs.” The school’s primary objective is to teach the students life skills and basic literacy that will enable them to develop into functioning members of society. The school grew from the Makati Research and Development Center (MRDC), a special education school owned and run by the Rotary Club of Makati in the 70s and 80s.

Following the timeline we had set for the three-part joint voter registration program we forged with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), we launched the voters’ registration assistance campaign last Saturday, October 10, at the San Ildefonso Parish in Brgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati. The PPCRV is the designated citizens’ arm of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the national elections of May 2022. Pres. Peter Manzano was there with First Ann Pam for the launch. Also in attendance were Dr. Arwin Serrano, PPCRV trustee; Pres. Jun Obong of RC Paranaque Central and Pres. Cath Ronquillo of RC Makati Olympia; Fr. Antonio Molavin, S.D.B, San Ildefonso Parish Priest; Atty. Anthonette S. Aceret, COMELEC representative; and Pres. Prame Cato, IPP Kash Gana, PP Rose Pama and Mark Cato of the Rotaract Club of Makati (RAC Makati). An orientation program started right after the 8:00 AM Mass celebrated by Fr. Molavin, with Pres. Peter breaking the ice with brief remarks welcoming everyone and giving a briefer on the project—its participants and objectives, followed by messages by Fr. Molavin, Dr. Serrano, and Atty Aceret. Pres. Peter, who had expected a turnout of 30 max on the project launch, was pleasantly surprised to see 127 would-be voters from Brgy. Pio del Pilar and neighboring Brgy. Bangkal lining up to register. The 8-11 AM schedule stretched to 3:00 PM because of the large number of applicants. The RAC Makati Rotaractors busied themselves attending to the registrants, handing out application forms (three copies per registrant) and health declaration forms and lending assistance with accomplishing them. The applicants were either first-time voters, transfer voters, or those requesting reactivation after failing to vote in the last election. After making sure the applicants carried valid IDs, the Rotaractors saw to it that the applicants were transported to the Comelec office for the required biometrics signature and photo. The Club had provided two vans to shuttle the registrants to and from the Comelec office. Mindful of the Covid 19 health and safety protocols put in place by the Comelec, rules were complied with to the letter: strict temperature checks that disallowed anyone with a reading of 37.5 from coming into the designated area; social distancing that limited the number of applicants; and hand sanitizing with alcohol.