President’s Corner

Last week, a group of us left for Palawan to spread the good news of our Ambassador of Goodwill program, our T.R.E.E.S. Program and Rotary, in general. It was the magnificent ten led by Karlo Castro, who led the program, Marcus Dee, who served as our official dance instructor, Albert Alday, who handled the coordination, Jun Follosco, who was in charge of the fun department, Ariel Abriam, who took notes in preparation for the four day Iloilo sojourn, Warren So, who was in charge of lost baggage, Nicky Villaseñor, who was in charge of keeping us sane, Jason Ong, who took care of fellowship, Johnny Chotrani, who took care of sound dreamland duties and myself, who led the initiative of the club. Rotary Club of Puerto Princesa Past President Bobby and wife, Angie Castro, played gracious hosts beyond compare.

Everything went well, PERFECT to say the least. We met with all seven Rotary clubs from the width and breadth of the island. We discussed the Ambassador of Goodwill program and The Rotary Ecological and Environmental Strategem (T.R.E.E.S.). It was a very successful, eventful and historic conference, a first time ever.

I would like to thank our hosts, the parents of Karlo who went out of their way to make sure we had a great time, Palawan Governor Pepito Alvarez who prepared a wonderful welcome for all of us, including dancers as well as a magnificent coffee table book about Palawan and former Puerto Prinsesa Mayor Ed Hagedorn who was in New York for the Environmental Convention, but, still managed to host us in our Puerto Princesa Underground River adventure. Wow! All wonderful hosts, indeed. Thank you to all of you.

I would like to congratulate the very energetic, generous, hard working, handsome and lovable Bobby Joseph, our incoming President and the newly-elected Board of Directors for RY 2020-2021. The warmest congratulations and assurances of support comes from every single member of our club. Arriba Bobby!!

Today, we have a very special speaker, a true friend, the leader in this field, Arch. Jun Palafox. The return of the native is before us to speak of his vision for Metro Manila. How this will affect real estate values is important for each of us. Welcome home Jun.

Best, Jackie