New Year Message

Dear fellow RCMers,

We enter the New Year full of hope, enthusiasm and anticipation of good things to come; and as we always say, hopefully better than the previous year. But hope alone is not enough. We need to convert our hope into action in consonance with our 2023-2024 Rotary theme “Create Hope in the World”. Create is the operative word. We must create hope together, not apart.

Last year, your BOD conducted a Club Health Check that led to a General Assembly to address common concerns. It was followed by a special GA on the suggestion of the Ethics Committee and some members. All told, we all recognize that the state of the club could be much better. And the only way for conditions to improve is when every member sincerely works for it.

I congratulate our committees who’ve been quietly at work, laying the groundwork for lift-off in the second half of RY2023-2024. We have so many good ideas and plans. So, what we need to do is to band together and lift RCM to the next level. Cooperation, not confrontation, should be the way to go. Our focus should be on our stakeholders, those with less in life, than us.

My prayer is for all of us to work in friendship and harmony, in consonance with Rotary’s 4-way Test, for causes larger than ourselves; and to help each other attain our declared goals for RCM’s greater glory. It requires setting aside any negative attitude and behavior that hinder, rather than enhance, the club’s performance and progress.

2024 gives us another fresh opportunity, as in years past, to reboot and start over. Let’s allow the purity of good faith steer and propel us towards the right direction in the months to come. RCM needs every one of us to reclaim precious ground and forge ahead.

May the Good Lord bless us and our families year-round with inner peace, joy and prosperity. Happy New Year everyone!

Rafael “Raffy” Alunan III, President, Rotary Club of Manila RY2023-2024