The Rotary Balita no. 784 (November 10, 1955)

OZAMIS
OZAMIS CITY BECOMES ROTARY CONSCIOUS

The Ozamis City Rotary Club, chartered barely two months ago, is the youngest civic organization in this City. Yet, despite its infancy, it has a seated itself as an organization worthy of the highest regards of the community. It has advanced itself in civic work thru the combined efforts of its members who are mature men successful in their respective business and/or professions-men who thru their individual efforts, honesty, and integrity have earned for themselves the respect of the community. They are men developed by the hard and exacting school of experience to become leaders in the community. They lead in the important civic, economic and social activities of the community in which they live. There is hardly an affair in the City that the Rotary s not represented either by its members as individuals or the club as an entity.

The closely knit fellowship among the Rotarians manifesting the true spirit of service, brotherhood and equality is not only confined within the club but is also extended outside of the club to the people. A feature of this fellowship is the invitation to the customary luncheon meetings of guest speakers and artists whose contributions of their sound experiences and learning have given enlightenment for the benefit and progress of the community. These steps make this organization a club of, for and by the people.
-From "PANGUIL BAY"


DAVAO
GOV. DANDING'S SPEECH DELIVERED BEFORE THE ROTARY CLUB ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1955

Rotary was organized to satisfy a need for fellowship. But that was not enough. A definite common interest was needed. And out of this need came the ideal of service thoughtfulness of and helpfulness to others. Service became the end and objective of Rotary. Fellowship became the means to that end-thus at our weekly meetings we develop fellowship; and from this fellowship comes service.

It is a fellowship that comes from within, not just veneer applied from without. It is a fellowship of men drawn together by common ideals and purposes.

Rotary is not and must never be allowed to become merely a fellowship of good food, handshaking, first names, good stories and community singing. These must only be the outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual faith.

Rotary is a group of men who draw no religious lines, no racial lines, no political lines, and have no boundaries of social or financial position. There is enough power in the ideals of a group like this to turn a community upside down or to keep it right side up for decency and righteousness. From time to time, we sound our bearings and as- certain our directions for better service to the community. Here is a group which can help keep politicians in the straight and narrow path of honest government. Here is a group which can make sure that the schools receive adequate support and are kept free of political influence. Here is a fellowship whose very existence helps to guarantee to every boy and girl in their community their inalienable right of a place to play, to a sound education and citizenship training.

This is the fellowship that exalts cooperation, rather than outstanding leadership, which places as much value on the man who can work with others-unhonored and unsung-as on the man who receives the hero worship of the limelight.

You and I have stood on the sidelines of a basketball game and have watched a player receive the ball and dribble his way through the length of the court for a goal. And you and I have seen the crowd go wild with enthusiasm and sweep out on the field to carry that player on their shoulders in triumph. He was a hero. He had run the length of the field for a goal! His name appeared in big black streamers all over the sports pages of the newspapers and received all sorts of marks of distinction. But you know and I know that whenever a man runs the length of a field, it is because of some other fellow, underneath a pile of struggling figures, digging a hold in the dirt with his face in order that the other man may make the goal. And that fellow underneath the pile- they don't carry him around the field unless it's on a stretcher. He does not receive any marks of distinction unless they are black and blue marks. He doesn't get his name in streamers in the sports pages of a newspaper- unless in the list of the injured. But the fellow underneath the pile is just as essential to the winning of the game as the fellow who runs the length of the field and puts the ball inside the basket.

And so, fellowship in Rotary is not merely joining of hands and singing "When we come to the end of a Rotary day." Fellowship in Rotary is joining hands and working together, not for glory but for a common cause.

The spirit of Rotary is like the gentle rain from Heaven. It cleans away selfishness, melts down the barriers that separate men, dissolve discords and transforms them into harmonies, changes competition into cooperation, reveals the beauty of life and the inherent nobilities of every man.

Where the spirit of Rotary is, there is liberty It sets us free from the bondage of prejudice and bigotry and binds us all together in the ties of understanding and brotherhood. It changes casual contacts into the glowing friendships; it makes dull duties into inspiring privileges.

Today in conference tables around the world, representatives of nations are sitting in efforts to bring a permanent peace into our world. But our greatest menace is not our present or future enemies from other lands; our greatest menace lies within our own borders-our tendencies toward hatred, suspicion and intolerance. And the answer to this menace is - the spirit of Rotary fellowship.
If the world is to win a permanent peace and if our cherished ideals are to survive, we must welcome to our ranks all who are willing to stand and fight beside us. In order to win the peace we must wage the peace. We must cast aside all prejudices of race, religion, politics or social positions. We must stand together on a common platform of freedom and justice for all mankind. This is the platform of Rotary. As we seek in our own lives and in our own local groups and in the minds and hearts of individual Rotarians to practice the principles of true fellowship, we will generate a power which some day may girdle the glove for decency and right dealing.
-From MOUNT APO NEWSSHEET


BAGUIO
UN DAY

Commemorating the World Fellowship Week during the United Nations celebrations, the Baguio Rotary Club held a student contest in which several students representing the most important schools in the City, were invited to express their views about Rotary and the United Nations. The students delivered very interesting, speeches, among them those quoted below. Said the representative of the Brent School:

As most of you know, I am here today representing Brent School. For the past two years the Baguio Rotary Club has invited a Brent student to present his views on the United Nations during United Nations' week. Today I will attempt to show you the values of the United Nations from a student's viewpoint.

The United Nations makes many things possible for a student, which could not be so without the world organization. The two points which to me are most pertinent are: first, the possible interchange of experts in all fields between countries, with the United Nations giving financial aid, and, secondly, the encouragement the United Nations gives students of different nationalities in living and working together.

The relationships between students of different nationalities is a major problem, especially here in the Philippines, where so many different peoples are found.

Brent is an international school. In the last two years we have had Japanese students, as well as Swedish, Chinese, Americans, Dutch, British subjects from both New Zealand and Australia, and Filipinos from all parts of the islands. Students from all economic backgrounds and from all religious backgrounds are accepted in our school. At Brent, if anywhere, we should have, and occasionally do have, problems resulting from prejudices.

I believe that by using the United Nations' principles these prejudices can be exterminated, as they must be for cooperative student work, We must look intelligently upon prejudice, so that we may see the stupidity in thinking our race, religion, sex, or language is superior. We must begin to realize what is best for one person may not be best for all peoples. By making the principles of the United Nations our ideals, students can work together more smoothly with more satisfaction in knowing that what we have accomplished was accomplished through cooperation.

Through UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, experts from one country are sent to meet the needs of another. Let me call your attention to two such experts. A United Nations' specialist from India has been in this country discussing community development projects with Filipino civic leaders. And an expert from Bolivia has visited this nation to aid in combating the various diseases found in barrios. In Bayambang, Pangasinan, a Community School Training Center was set up through a cooperative movement between the Philippine government and UNESCO. This interchange of experts increases the over all knowledge throughout the world. This indirectly benefits students.

Through the United Nations the world's knowledge will and is being increased. People everywhere shall battle prejudice with knowledge.
Thank you!

One of the most applauded speeches was delivered by Miss Gene P. Mejia, representing Baguio Tech, with the theme:
"THE UNITED NATIONS WORKS FOR YOU"
Said Miss Mejia:
The United Nations Works for you! And why do I know it?
Because my country is the Philippines... member of the United Nations... seat of United Nations conferences... one of the suppressors of a communist aggression in Korea... and the birthplace of Carlos P. Romulo... that is why I know the United Nations, that is why I can say that the United Nations works for you.

The United Nations is man's potent force for world peace and security. It is man's greatest handiwork for the assurance of freedom. It is man's best hope for survival. To the many peoples of the world, it means life... to the champions for the cause of human dignity, it is a symbol of success; to the oppressed and the exploited, it is an inspiration and to the misguided, it serves as a beacon to the path of personal freedom and justice.

All of these, the United Nations aims to be for all peoples without distinction as to race, creed or religion.

This is not to say that the United Nations is without faults or that it commits no mistakes. It has its own history. It has fought for its survival through the years. It has its own scars resulting from this treatment. As a matter of fact there are those who tell you that the United Nations has outlived its usefulness, that it is no more than a tool for imperialism designed to further oppress the oppressed... that it is a replica of its predecessor, the League of Nations, which died a natural death.

Now, what is this natural death and this use lessness that they speak of? Is the United Nations dead? or... has it become useless?

It was not until communism threatened to dominate and enslave the peoples of the world that we began to visualize the importance of the United Nations, it was not until we saw one country after another, filled with innocent people, submerged and conquered, that we began to feel the need of the United Nations for security, it was not until communist aggression in Korea was suppressed, that we finally crystallized our belief that the United Nations is both alive and so useful a force for world peace and freedom.

To the United Nations all men are brothers, equal and free. Thus, in war or in peace, in joy or in pain, be you a pagan or a Christian, a Caucasian or a Negroid, the United Nations works for you. If you are naked, it clothes you; if you are ignorant, it educates you; if you are sick, it cures you; and if you are in distress, it helps you.

These the United Nations do for you because it believes that they are the root causes of a disunited and disgruntled world because it believes that you cannot live happily, peacefully and progressively in an inconsistent and troubled world.

In diplomacy, the United Nations is an arbiter; instead of bullets, it recommends arbitration; instead of conflicts, it recommends conciliations; instead of the battlefields, it recommends the diplomatic table.

The United Nations has a bright future. It was once said that there is a destiny that makes us brothers and none shall go his way alone. That destiny is the United Nations... the dream dreamt by our forefathers, a dynamic force to maintain peace, unity, and security.

As a well-known philosopher once wrote: It is by the fire of this dream (the United Nations) that the future shall be lighted, rather than by the flames of destruction. It is by this torch that the way for God's Universe shall be seen.

That dream is the United Nations. With the cooperative effort of its members, it brings you peace, liberty and equality.

This I know... I must know, because .. My country is the Philippines... member of the United Nations... seat of United Nations conferences... one of the suppressors of communist aggression in Korea... and the birthplace of Carlos P. Romulo... that is why I know the United Nations... that is why I can say that the United Nations... works...for... YOU!


BAGUIO CHESS TOURNAMENT

A Chess tournament in the City of Baguio is being organized under the sponsorship of the Rotary Club of Baguio. Engineer "Vic" de Guia is busy preparing the details.

It is planned that some of the top chess players of the country will be invited to show their wares. We understand that Mr. Campomanes and Champion Pascual may come to rightly stimulate the residents to catch-up-with-the Chess Fever.

"Tony" Anton, of the Rotary Club of Manila, will donate the First Prize a lovely Trophy. Our Club will donate the 2nd Prize.