The damage wrought by Typhoon Ulysses on Cagayan and Isabela was so severe that it warranted a second mission to the place. The RCM disaster relief team had been in Tuguegarao, Cagayan on Nov 17 to deliver much needed essentials to families who had lost much and recovered little from the floods that had inundated their city.Pres. Peter Manzano & FA Pam, together with CoS Ron Dotaro and John Palmiano, left Manila at 10 PM on November 25 for another tour of duty, and arrived at the Isabela Provincial Capitol at around 10AM the following day. It was non-stop service, with the team hopping from one town to another to hand out relief goods-- in Tumauini, 400 bags of goods to as many families; then to Sto. Tomas, 275 bags. After lunching on pancit Cabagan, they proceeded to San Pablo to distribute 210 bags, then moved to Cabagan Municipal Hall to turn over the 1,200 01PRES. PETER HITS 3 BIRDS WITH ONE STONE IN BAGUIO Looks like there’s no relief in sight for Pres. Peter & Pam Manzano who continue to crisscross the country to push the Club’s relief mission for communities and families impacted by natural calamities. After a frenetic schedule of relief missions that saw them moving from one end of Luzon to the other, they drove to Baguio last Sunday, December 6, for another relief ops, this time for Covid-19. Joining hands with the Pres. Tolitz Villanueva of the Rotary Club of Baguio Summer Capital, they handed out 100 to page 09pairs of slippers donated by Taba Samson and boxes of bath and laundry soap, toothpaste and toothbrush, and blankets donated by Ann Jean Chavez. The goods given away, valued at P100K, on the Isabela leg came from PN Mike Escaler-- 38 boxes of Alaska milk, 18 boxes of Birch Tree powdered milk, 13 boxes of Star corned beef, 15 boxes of San Mig coffee, and 30 boxes of Lucky Med instant noodles.Driving further north to Tuguegarao where they spent the night, they met up with RC Tuguegarao Rotarians for a fellowship dinner, which occasioned the signing of a memorandum of agreement on their participation in our voters’ registration campaign. Heavy rains greeted Day 2 , Nov 27, of the Cagayan/Isabela relief mission as the team travelled more than an hour from Tuguegarao through rough and muddy roads to the designated site in Baggao, on the eastern side of Cagayan. The town, they found out, was one of the hardest hit in Cagayan, with many casualties. In partnership with RC Tuguegarao, they distributed 400 bagsof relief goods to as many families in Brgy. San Jose, Baggao. The relief mission was also in cooperation with Shell dealers in the area who gave away mats and blankets. Next and final stop for the mission was another visit to the Cagayan Provincial Capitol to turn over to Provincial Administrator Da r w in Sacramed 420 sets of mats and blankets and 10 water filters donated by Johnny Sy , for distribution to areas that could not as yet be reached by land.

On 30 November, Pres. Peter Manzano joined Rotary Homes Foundation trustees, including Chair Emeritus PDG Sid Garcia, for the ceremonial ground-breaking for a new Rotary Homes site in Putatan, Muntinlupa. The occasion was graced by Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi.The Putatan site, the 3rd site for Rotary Homes, has space enough for 39 housing units as well as a multi-purpose center. The other two sites, both in Paranaque, includes a 4.2 hectare property donated by the Paranaque government under former Mayor Jun Bernabe.Launched in January 2011, Rotary Homes has so far built homes for 300 families that had taken residence in the banks of the moribund Paranaque River, worsening its pollution and hastening its death. Houses are built from donations from corporate sponsors, private individuals, Rotarians and Rotary Clubs, including the Rotary Club of Makati.An active supporter of the project, RC Makati has so far donated sums for the construction of 14 houses. This year, Pres. Peter Manzano’s board has earmarked a budget for the construction of 20 homes. The significance of Rotary Homes and its twin objectives of reviving the dying Paranaque River and building a community for its erstwhile residents was dramatized last year when the Rotary Club of Manila, on the occasion of its 100th year, awarded it a Centennial Award for Outstanding Service Project.

Pres. Peter Manzano revived the Paul Harris Kitchen two Saturdays ago to bring much needed help to some 200 families who had losttheir homes in a fire on March 9. The empath in him prompted Pres. Peter to move fast to bring relief to the people who had been made homeless and who likely had been unable to save their belongings or anything of value. As fast as he could, he mobilized a kitchen brigade among his family—First Ann Pam and their three children—and neighbors at Merville Park Subdivision, to whip up meals for the individuals who had been temporarily sheltered in two public facilities. On March 13, a Saturday, Pres. Peter personally led the distribution of 500 packed meals to the fire victims— 300 to the evacuees housed at the Aurora Quezon Elementary School, and 200 to those huddled at the Leveriza Covered Court. The relief mission was done in coordination with the Rotary Club of Paseo de Magallanes. Pres. Peter also gave away 500 bottles of Balipure purified water, donated by PP Tito Panlilio, and 1,000 RC Makati facial masks.

The partnership between RC Makati and the Office of the Vice President that merges the Club’s RCM Learning Center and the OVP’s Community Learning Hub received an affirmative boost on January 21st when Pres. Peter Manzano & First Ann Pam joined Vice President Leni Robredoon a visit to two of the facilities in Lucena, Quezon. The objective of the visits, both unannounced, was to personally observe the operations of the Centers and how the students are making use of the devices and modules in the blended learning environment.The two facilities are recipients of the Club’s donation of 117 Dell desktop computers to the OVP last December—five units serving some 139 learners in Brgy. Talao-Talao and seven units supporting over 151 students in Brgy. Cotta.The hubs are designed to assist learners who have no access to the educational materials, devices and internet connectivity required for distance learning. The hubs are manned by volunteers who conduct regular tutorial lessons for the students; operations are supported by the barangay, which shoulders the cost of utilities like electricity and internet service. RC Makati and the OVP plan to put up more RCM Learning Centers /Community Learning Hubs in places across the country to help ensure the success of the distance learning scheme.

On January 8, Pres. Peter & First Ann Pam, together with their children, paid a visit to RC Narvacan to turn over 20 Samsung tablets for the use of as many poor but deserving students in their distance learning classes. This project is under the umbrella of RC Makati’s “Education Under a New Normal.” Our clubs are connected by our shared interest in and concern for education and the environment.

On the same day, Pres. Peter turned over to Colonel Harold Depositar, PNP Makati Police Chief, a wheelchair meant for a Mrs. Elsa Bibar, who suffered a stroke and whose movement has been impaired. The wheelchair will be handed over to Mrs. Bibar sometime this month in connection with the PNP’s celebration of Women’s Month.

President Peter, First Ann Pam Manzano, together with the presidents of RC Paranaque Metro and a few other clubs in District 3830, drove northwest of the metro last Saturday, February 6, for a meeting with their local partner Task Force Morong to assess the needs of the community on a joint water project in Morong, Bataan. The project, a joint undertaking with the Rotary Club of Paranaque Metro, wi th support from a number of other clubs, calls for the construction of a water impounding structure in Barangay Binaritan to supply the residents of the Morong Upland Homeowners Association with water for their household and farming needs. Directly benefiting from the project are 200 families residing in the area. The impounding facility, located about a kilometre from the community it is to serve, is designed to hold up to 12,000 US gallons of water, which will be sourced from a river watershed. The funding requirement of P100,000, which covers cost of 01 materials such as cement, gravel and sand, rebars and pvc pipes, is shared by the clubs, with P50K provided by RC Makati and the balance of P50K put up by the other clubs. The cost of labor is not factored in because the Morong Task Force Kalikasan has been tasked to contribute sweat equity, with members to work on the project the bayanihan way. The project is scheduled for completion in three months.

As the coronavirus that causes Cov-id-19 continues to wreak havoc on lives and livelihoods everywhere, gov-ernments and private enterprises are doing all they can to fight back. One of the ways to do this is for private entities to provide badly-needed equipment, devices and supplies to financially-chal-lenged hospitals and other medical care facilities, to help them do their job of saving lives and giving hope.Last January 14, the Club kicked off the rollout of such donations with the turnover of 675 personal protective equipment (PPE), 10 hepa filters, 8 air purifying respirators and 100 pulse oxi-meters to Ospital ng Paranaque.The donation was formalized with the inking of a deed of donation by Pres. Peter Manzano for the Club and Dr. Jefferson R. Pagsisihan, hospital director, and Dr. Lea Grace Vasquez, hospital administrator, for Ospital ng Paranaque, with PDG Ador Tolentinoas witness.The donations are funded by a USD155K global grant applied for and approved by The Rotary Foundation last year, during the term of IPP Bimbo Mills, with PP Reggie Nolido as chair. Partnering to put up the global grant were R. I. District 3830 clubs, under Gov. Ador Tolentino, which contribut-ed USD20,000; the Rotary Club of Wu Kung-Taiwan, which put in USD70,000; and our own Club, RC Makati, with a share of USD21,000. The rest of the grant was provided by TRF’s World Fund.The grant covers donations of hos-pital equipment to eight hospitals and one LGU.

“Supporting the Environment” is one of the areas of focus Rotary Clubs are enjoined to apply their time and resources to; it is actually the 7th, added last year to the original six Areas of Focus. It was added in recognition of the existential importance of environmental matters. One of the aspect of the environment that is most concerning is the situation of our oceans and the damage they have been and are being subjected to. We refer, specifically, to coral reefs, dying or dead, that need rehabilitation and regeneration, a problem many Rotary Clubs are taking notice of and doing something about. Pres. Peter Manzano, keenly aware of the urgency of the need to move forward on this matter, was in San Esteban, Ilocos Sur with First Ann Pam on February 11 to personally see the progress of a reef buds project put in place by the local government unit some years back, and to speak to the proponents, in the hope of learning valuable lessons about the installation and care of reef buds that he can apply in a similar project he plans to initiate. Joining Pres. Peter and First Ann Pam in the trip was PP Benjie Tayag of RC Paranaque who, in tandem with an Austrian geoscientist, invented the reef buds technology designed to revive damaged near-shore marine ecosystems. While there, Pres. Peter scouted around the neighboring towns for appropriate sites for his planned reef buds project which is aimed at rehabilitating moribund coral reefs and revive the local fishing industry, to provide sustainable and gainful employment to the local fisherfolk.

November has been a challenging month for our country. Perhaps “challenging” does not quite describe it. Because for tens of thousands of Filipino families, November has been nothing short of miserable. The misery started on the very first day of the month, with a ferocious typhoon, packing 215 kph winds with gusts of 265 kph, eclipsing the record held by Yolanda (Haiyan) which devastated the Visayas in 2013. Living up to its name, Super Typhoon Rolly whipped violent winds that swept vast areas, dumping unrelenting rains as it moved, and leaving a path of destruction that will take months, if not years, to rebuild. Rolly made four landfalls in four provinces, rolling on after battering a place, each time picking up strength to barrel through its next destination. The most disastrous was the first, in Bato, Catanduanes; its next stop was in Tiwi, Albay; the third was in San Narciso, Quezon; and the last was in Lobo, Batangas. But it reserved its most wrathful power for the provinces in the Bicol Region. That’s where Pres. Peter Manzano focused the Club’s first relief mission during his term, which saw them delivering over P1M worth of goods to over 3,000 families in five sites and one institution. With First Ann Pam, CoS Ron Dotaro and photographer Richard Manilag, the team left Manila in the evening of Tuesday, November 3, arriving in Naga, Camarines Sur at dawn the following day. Despite the long trip and little sleep, they were all set for the work they had come to perform. Before 10:00 AM, they made their way through rough and flooded roads to the designated site in Brgy. Salingogon in Minalabac. Partnering with the Office of the Vice President, they distributed food bags each valued at P500 to 500 families. Significantly, Vice President Leni Robredo was there to personally help with the relief operations. In her brief message, she thanked the Club for the relief assistance in her hometown and acknowledged our past collaborations, particularly in the dormitory project for high school girls in Bukidnon and Negros Oriental. It must be mentioned that we were assisted by the Lions Club of Naga whose members, led by Pres. Leanne Montemayor, provided manpower for the packing of goods. Before proceeding to Legaspi City, Pres. Peter hosted lunch for the Lions as a gesture of appreciation and thanks for their support. The team then proceeded to Legaspi City in Albay, where relief operations were conducted in two barangays -- Brgys. Penaranda and Puro, each with 500 recipients of food bags worth P250 each. The relief operations in both sites were overseen by PP Japps Callos of RC Metro Sorsogon, which provided logistics and manpower for repacking of goods. Our partner in these operations was ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya, led by Jen Reyes, who coordinated the relief distribution and arranged an interview of Pres. Peter on a local TV station. They spent the night in the city, home to majestic Mayon Volcano. On Thursday the 5th, they motored to Brgy. Gapo in neighboring Camalig where they handed out 250 sets of mats and blankets worth P100K as well as 500 pairs of sandals donated by Taba Samson. There they were assisted by Area 4 Bicol clubs that also gave away goods and supervised the very orderly operations. Next stop was Guinobatan, the hardest hit town in Albay, which suffered casualties and where many houses were totally destroyed. There they served 1,000 families, giving them food bags worth P250 each. Wanting to get back to Manila in time for more relief ops the following day, the team travelled back to Naga, passing by Ateneo de Naga for a brief visit that allowed Pres. Peter to hand to Ateneo de Naga President Fr. Robert Rivera, a check for P200K as the Club’s contribution towards the repair of the school, which had been damaged by the typhoon. Half of the amount came from PDG Sid Garcia. Providentially, the Ateneo visit led to our team reconnecting with RC Naga, a long lost Brother Club. Pres. Peter and RC Naga Pres. Jojo Prieto promised to revive our brotherhood relations and even considered a virtual joint meeting via Zoom. The trip back to the big city offered some sleep, just enough rest to recharge after two hectic days, to get them ready for yet another day of delivering badly needed goods to families, some of whom had lost loved ones, most of whom had lost their homes and the earthly belongings that had taken a lifetime to acquire and would likely take another lifetime to replace. Thanks to our members and friends who, responding to Pres. Peter’s gentle appeal for help, enabled the Club to raise a total of P870,000 with which to replenish our disaster relief fund—Carina Amparo, daughter of PP Felix, P10K; Ann Tessie Amparo, P10K; Arthur Antonino, P100K; PE Louie Aseoche, P10K; George Barcelon, P20K; Ann Jojo Borromeo, P10K; Edgardo Caparas, P100K coursed through Eddie Galvez; Vic Floresca, P10K; Ralph Galvez, son of Ai-Ai, P100K; PDG Sid Garcia, P200K; Dir. Eddie Galvez, P100K; Ric Gindap, P20K; Ann Yvonne Kuan, P5K; Mr. Higinio Macaraeg, P10K; IPP Bimbo Mills, P25K; PP Reggie Nolido, P10K; Andrew Prieto, P10K; PP Carlo Rufino, P10K; Taba Samson, P100K; Rodrigo Segura, P5K; PP Sonny Tambunting, P5K; and an anonymous donor, P50K. We also thank those who gave donations in kind-- PDG Pepz Bengzon, who provided a van; Ann Jean Chavez, a box of laundry soap; Andy Mañalac, a generator; PP Tito Panlilio, 5,600 bottles of purified water; and Taba Samson, 1,200 pairs of sandals.

We started the year on a b/right note. On the third day of the first month of the new year, we kicked off a new project to help stem hunger among families severely impacted by job losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Aptly named Feed the Hungry, the project is designed to provide “bridge feeding” to hungry families by delivering packed meals to them once a week. Bridge feeding means providing food to hungry families until such time as the breadwinners find gainful employment that will enable them to put food on the table on a regular basis. The project was launched on January 3rd with the inking of partnership agreements with an initial two parishes in Makati—San Ildefonso and Sts. Peter and Paul—with the parish priests as signatories: Fr. Antonio Molavin and Fr. Ric Fernando for San Ildefonso and Fr. Gerry Santos for Sts. Peter and Paul. The Club joined hands with parishioners in delivering 300 packed meals—150 to Bangkal near SLEX to homeless families who have made the streets home and 150 to Zobel St. behind the Makati City Hall, to families forced to live in damaged vehicles because they can no longer afford rent. Last Sunday, January 10th, the Club delivered a second batch of 300 meals prepared by the RC Makati Paul Harris Kitchen to mark the 2nd Sunday of this program for the two parishes. Pres. Peter and FA Pam personally participated in the distribution. The Club is committed to provide a total of 55,000 meals in partnership with other parishes. The Club is coordinating with other parishes to partner with and to serve. About 5,000 of those meals will be prepared by the Club at the Paul Harris Kitchen in Merville, Paranaque where Pres. Peter and family, together with their kid’s friends, prepare the meals.

With the temporary suspension of the supplementary feeding, the Club turned to milk feeding as a complement to the full feeding program in Calatagan, Batangas. Calatagan, it will be recalled, was one of the main sites of the Club’s long-running feeding program under Chair PP Freddie Borromeo.Under the new scheme, the Club supplies milk to kids enrolled in the feeding program jointly run by the Zobel Foundation, Calatagan DepEd and Kabisig ng Kalahi.The program benefits 90 undernourished children aged 3-6 years old, who are each given a glass of Anchor milk every day for 120 days or six months. The kids are grouped into three modules, at 30 kids per module. The feeding activity took place at the Florencio D. Firmante Elementary School inBrgy. Sambungan, Calatagan on December 17. Presiding over the activity were Pres. Peter Manzano, Mrs. Lorena Languitan, school principal, and Ms. Grace Ann Joy B. Lira, Program Officer of the Zobel Foundation.