Remarks on the Occasion of the 80th Anniversary Celebration of the RC Baguio

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the chartering of this fine club, one of the first six Rotary Clubs in the Philippines, chartered under my own Rotary Club of Manila, the first in the Philippines and in all of Asia.

1938 was an extraordinary year in the history of our world. Allow me, please, the privilege of taking us back to those times. FDR was President of the United States and started the March of Dimes, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to combat polio. Manual Quezon was leading the Philippines, a great man earnestly concerned with social justice, and the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines. Edward R. Murrow was reading the news on the radio, including that there was a difficult recession in the US, with unemployment at 19%, Amelia Earhart was lost, trying to fly around the world, Germany was advancing its persecution of Jews, had occupied Czechoslovakia and invaded Austria. Orson Wells’ dramatic radio program, “War of the Worlds,” caused panic, and Joe Louis won the world Boxing Heavyweight Championship with a first-round knockout against Max Schmeling. The RMX Queen Mary set a speed record for crossing the Atlantic. Action Comics issued the first Superman comic, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” was the box office hit, while Ronald Reagan was making cowboy movies. Evel Kneivel, Ted Turner, Kenny Rogers and Manual Noriega were all born, and Frank Sinatra was arrested for seduction and adultery. The Japanese were bombing Chonqing. Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, and ballpoint pens, photocopiers, and freeze-dried coffee were all introduced. If we were reading for relaxation, JRR Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” was released, and Dr Seuss’s first rhyming book appeared.

The history of your club has been very distinguished, from the very start. Daniel Burnham’s plan for a highlands health resort was the brilliant and enduring foundation for Baguio’s development. No one could have known that the city would not be 25,000 or 30,000 people, but instead more than ten times that, and far more in the region that it dominates. Baguio is and was such a beautiful and welcoming place. It needed everything that a world-class city needs. Before your club’s founding, Baguio had become home to military development, the excellent Philippine Military Academy. The American John Hay Air Station started in 1903. The area burgeoned with mining, creating great wealth in the area. The Catholic church had been here for hundreds of years, and the American Episcopal Bishop Charles Henry Brent brought his evangelism, education and health care mandates to the Cordilleras. In 1909, he started the school that now bears his name. Lutherans, Seventh Day Adventists and others came to evangelize and contribute, especially in education. UP Baguio had started in Vigan in 1921, but moved here in 1938. In 1934, the PNR had made it much more easy and comfortable to get from Manila to Baguio, with air-conditioned trains. It seems that everything was coming together to make this a truly great community in an astonishingly beautiful place in nature. But Baguio needed a compelling outlet for the civic and social engagement of good men, coming together in fellowship and service, that maybe only Rotary can deliver.

Thirty-five stalwarts of Baguio formed that chartering core that has led to one of the finest civic-minded clubs in the country, admired for your dedicated community work and accomplishments over four generations. Some of those things are chronicled in your published history but, to me, the real merit lies in the lives that you have changed, the transformational impact of RC Baguio men and women working together, in service to humanity. As your mother club, we take enormous pride in all that you have done, in all that you are, and especially in all that you will do in the future.

Using the words of some of the RI theme slogans over the years, going forward for the next 80 years, what will you do in building peace and understanding, building bridges of friendship, bring hope where there is despair, looking beyond ourselves, acting with integrity, being a friend, sowing the seeds of love, lending a hand, leading the way, making dreams real, serving humanity, and inspiring for the future?

Thank you for making your parent so very proud. We look forward to welcoming you to our Centennial celebrations on June 21 and 22 next year.

Please accept this beautiful memento, which I present on behalf of my fellow officers, directors, and members. It reads “This commemorative bell and gavel set is hereby presented to Rotary Club of Baguio, RI District 3790, in testimonial of your 80 years of existence as our daughter club as we reprise our roles as vanguards of Service Above Self and the 4-way test on the road to the centennial of the Rotary Club of Manila and the Rotary movement in the Philippines and in Asia. Given on this occasion of its 80th charter anniversary celebration this February 27th, 2018 at the Grand Ballroom, Baguio Country Club, Baguio City, Benguet. Signed by Jose Jaime “Jimmie” Policarpio, Jr. President 2017-18, and attested by Alvin D. Lacambacal, Secretary.”

May God bless you in service above self. Mabuhay ang Rotary Club of Baguio!