President’s Corner
President Chito Zaldarriaga writes about the coming ECQ, Microsoft's Project DEAR digital system for Rotary members, TRF donations and participation in weekly meetings.
Greetings my Fellow Rotarians of Manila!
As we face another ECQ mode this coming weekend, let us hope that this mandated move will prove useful in curbing the alarming rate of infection among our citizens. For those who have not yet been fully vaccinated, please take heed and be more vigilant and careful. And for those who have already been vaccinated – continue to observe caution please.
It seems timely that our guest speaker in today’s regular meeting is no less than His Excellency Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio S. David, DD, Bishop of the Diocese of Kalookan and President-Elect of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). We really do need Divine intervention in this case.
We recently had a joint district meeting with other clubs and were told of this free grant from the Microsoft Team (Philippines) which will allow all members of Rotary to avail of this Project DEAR digital system. In essence, this will allow all Rotary members to have their own accounts using the latest Microsoft Applications. We will have a separate briefing for more details on the advantages of this club wide system that they are giving us. The estimated costs of this program comes up to the millions of dollars. Essentially, this project/program will allow us all to interface with each other in REAL TIME using the latest technology at no cost to the clubs or the individual members. Abangan!
We have an additional two (2) members who have committed to put in their US$1,000.00 for the TRF last week, Rtn. Tony Lopez and Rtn. Marvin Taylor-Dormond. As of this writing, we are already looking at the exchange rate of Php 50.00: US$1.00 as anticipated. Nonetheless, we are looking at additional TRF donations based on the Rotary exchange rate of Php 49.00:US$ 1.00 so please act now before our peso further devaluates.
Finally, I would like to appeal to one and all to please participate in our Weekly Membership Meetings. Consider it a privilege when the Programs Committee calls on you to participate by sharing a bit of your time to do this (Invocation, The Four Way Test, The Rotarian Pledge, and other parts of the program). It is not easy to compose a team every single week to arrive at a complete program with optimum participation on the part of all of us. Volunteer if you have not yet been asked to participate!
See you all soon! And please stay safe everyone!
Humbly yours in Rotary,
His Excellency Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, D.D.
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