Manila Rotary Young Blood Participate in Salamat Doc Medical Mission

With its reputation as the First Club in Asia and with many firsts in Philippine Rotary attributed to its rich and colorful existence, many would think that participation in simple yet meaningful projects was not the way to go for a club which boasts of a more that two hundred (200) membership who belong to the movers and shakers of Philippine society. Well, think again.

Though the many feel that with a membership pool that could almost easily pass for a DISCON in itself, that our club would not care to mind these types of projects is simply putting words into the mouth of the many who fail to see what lies beyond. The Rotary Club of Manila, even with its stringent vetting of prospective members, has somehow become akin to a vampire who has found a source of fresh blood to innervate the veins of its storied existence. While the many think that being the First in Asia necessitates a breed of wizened individuals who count among the finest in their fields, reality has somehow found a way to strike the homeostasis that make our club as relevant as the rest in the district.

Shepherding a flock of young taipans has since become my resolve, having been lost in a sea of moguls early in my Rotary life where I was very circumspect in using the first name basis which was traditionally, Rotary, in every sense of the word, realizing that my fellow Rotarians were not mere businessmen whose only aims were profit but captains of their respective classifications whose names frequently hug the headlines of major broadsheets.

Hence, a group of more or less fifteen (15) young Rotarians decided to frequently meet for fellowships and after constant bantering with one another like young children in the corridors of a school, found out each other’s interests and quirks such that we eventually found ways to meaningfully meet and having simple service projects with major impact which we collectively thought was something worth pursuing.

With Rtn. Deo Daniel Villacorta taking up the cudgels of meeting with Salamat Doc officials owing to the imprimatur of All Star President Teddy Ocampo, bearing in mind the brilliant surgical skills of budding heart surgeon Rtn. Jun Aventura, as well as the astute public relations character of Central Colleges of the Philippines Dean of Student Affairs DE/AS Caloy Reyes, the deal was sealed and a date with service was appointed. And with the kind heart of Rtn. Jappy Pascual, President of Pascual Laboratories, a modest supply medicines arrived and February 19, 2017 became an affair to cherish as the young blood of Philippine Rotary’s forefathers participated in the Salamat Doc medical mission in front of television cameras that made waves across the country.

Clearly, it was a statement that the historical vehicle of service to the nation has found new tires on which to continue a milieu of Service Above Self as it approaches the centenary mark of service to the nation and beyond.