FNL FEBRUARY FIRES UP, P. 6 CLUB KICKS OFF VALUES, P. 8 ini socials are fun, but those that he first of a four-part values bid you to let your hair down are formation seminar for members of the most fun. the Club’s Rotary Community Corps MFriday Night Lights—FNL for short— Tat Rotary Homes in La Huerta, Paranaque continues to be a social function to look City took place last Saturday, 11 February KAUNLARAN The Official Bulletin of the Rotary Club of Makati RI District 3830 Philippines FEB 21 FEB 2017 29 FROM MY DESK am delighted to welcome our guest Ispeaker, the honorable Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, Gina Lopez, who has BY: PRES. DAVID been making ACKERMAN front page news in recent weeks. We are eager to hear her side on a burning issue that has been catching national attention—her order to close down 28 mining sites amid rising protest from the mining community. CLUB REACHES OUT TO EARTHQUAKE- We are eager to listen to her articulate her plans on striking a happy balance TORN SURIGAO between two critical concerns—how to protect the environment and preserve he day after a magnitude our natural resources, on the one hand; 6.7 earthquake shook and how to develop a sustainable and Surigao in the evening responsible mining industry that violates Tof Friday, the 10th of neither the laws of the land nor those February, the Club’s diligent of nature, on the other. It’s a tightrope Community Service team that is not easy to navigate, but one that went to work. The Rotary Secretary Lopez seems ready to take on. network was put to good use ***** once again, as it always is in Our move to help the victims of the times of calamity, to bring 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Surigao clubs and Rotarians together for the task of getting much continues to move forward. After the needed help to people in dire need. Community Service , Club sent 1,000 bottles of drinking water Dir. Chris Ferareza Tapping Rotary connections tapping into the Club’s disaster relief fund, to the place—having been advised that nurtured through years as BATS immediately set aside P50,000 for the potable water was the biggest basic need coordinator, COS Ron Dotaro got in purchase of drinking water. that had to be met—we set off a fund touch with D3620’s PDG Toto Cupin By a providential turn, Ron found campaign that has yielded P168,000 as of of RC Cebu West, who connected out that the president of RC Surigao City- press time. We are considering using it for him to AG Ted Amores, who in turn -Pres. Richie Fortus—is in the business . to page 4 informed him that the most urgent of bottled water distribution, so the task of the needs that cried out to be met of sourcing the precious commodity was was potable water. instantly solved. On top of that, Pres. Pres. David Ackerman and . to page 5 Tel. Nos. 899-7863 to 65 • Fax No. 899-0739 E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] • www.makatirotary.org FLASH ACK:B FEBRUARY 14, 2017 • ESCOLTA, PENINSULA MANILA nvocator Manny Javelosa asked God to grant us a spirit of dialogue, bring us to the height of Truth, and Iinfuse strength to our fraternal spirit, that we may always seek and do Your will. He also thanked Him for bringing us together in the meeting, to share dreams and doubts, projects and difficulties, and asked Him to “make us always respond efficaciously to our vision and our mission in the world.” Our member count moved upward Dr. Reynaldo Echavez yet again, if only by one, with the Guest Speaker induction of Patrick Maxwell, a recruit of PP Carlo Rufino. Inducted by Pres. David Ackerman, Patrick was charged by PP Felix Amparo, who offered him tips on “how you can become effective as a club member within the shortest possible time”: 1) Know the members of the club, their names, faces, and what they do (check the members’ directory). Sit at a different David Ackerman President table every week, introduce yourself. 2) Know the work of the committees Charging session by PP Felix Amparo and join the one/s you’re interested in. 3) Volunteer in special committees where your area/s of expertise would be useful. 4) Join fellowship activities— socials, sports, outings—to develop and eventually expand your circle of friends. PP Felix summed it up this: “The sooner you involve yourself in the life Dir. Philip Soliven of the club, the sooner you will gain a Moderator feeling of belonging and of being a part of the team. What await you from your membership are warm fellowship and the opportunity to serve and provide assistance and comfort to those who Pres. David (right) inducts Peter Maxwell (center) as his proposer, have little.” PP Carlo Rufino, looks on Pres. David had a number of things to take up in his “time.” He renewed his earlier Gindap and new member Glenn Gatuslao acknowledgment of the Gift of Boats Project in Leyte as sending bottles of wine to spice things up. one well worth all the time and effort put into it, first, by He also made an account of our Manny Javelosa who conceived the idea and applied donation of 1,000 bottles of drinking water Invocator PP Reggie Nolido for global grant funding, and the others who helped to families affected by the earthquake bring it about—PP Roland Young and PP Frank Yih of in Surigao, and how Dir. Chris Ferareza RC Shanghai, and IPP Eddie Yap during whose term the coordinated things with Rotary Clubs in project was brought to fruition with the turnover of the Surigao. He thanked the 33 Rotarians and boats to the fishermen. couples who made cash donations (now He reported on the February FNL where 20 Rotarians totaling P168K) and disclosed that a rehab and Anns gathered at the RCM Clubhouse lounge for project is being considered. another of the once-a-month Friday night socials, with He then issued invites to three February birthday celebrators George Barcelon, PP Cesar upcoming activities—one, the turnover of PP Cesar Campos Campos, and PP Rene Limjoco bringing the food and Ric . to page 4 Introducer 02 KAUNLARAN-FEBRUARY 21, 2017 TODAY’S SPEAKER PROGRAM: LADIES’ DAY Tuesday, 21 February 2017 REGINA PAZ Rigodon I, The Peninsula Manila LOPEZ Starts at 12:00PM Adjourns at 2:00PM Secretary, The Environment and . Call to Order …………………… Pres. David Ackerman Natural Resources . Invocation ………………. Dir. Chris Ferareza . Philippine National Anthem …… RCM Chorale An Environment and Natural Resources Secretary like none . RC Makati Hymn before her, a true rara avis. That, in a nutshell, is Regina Paz . Introduction of L. Lopez, the new head of the DENR. Visiting Rotarians & Guests . Welcome Song / AVP Even before she was appointed as chief steward of the . Greetings to Birthday and environment and natural resources of the Philippines, her Wedding Anniversary Celebrators hardline views have been cheered by environmentalists and . Club Functions & challenged by giants of the mining industry. She was not Committee Announcements known to flinch or waver when a heavyweight blocked her . Short Presentation on AQMS …… IPP Eddie Yap path, for she could, like a typhoon, swirl around obstacles. President’s Time ……………… David Ackerman Yet there was no violence behind her toughness; it was the . Introduction of inner peace born of meditation that steels her, rather than the Guest Speaker ……………….. Dir. Jun Palafox brute force or the threat thereof. And though born to an . Speech: affluent family, and could have led a luxurious and carefree life, she chose to blaze her own trail the hard way, in the dirt, HON. REGINA PAZ LOPEZ serving the poor as an activist and crusader. Secretary Department of the Environment and Natural Resources Jee Y. Geronimo recalled in a profile in Rappler.com: “At 18 years old, she left home, renounced her life of privilege, and . Open Forum became a full-fledged yoga missionary in Portugal, India, . Response ……………………… Pres. David Ackerman and Africa. There, she had to constantly look for money for . Adjournment her own survival, and for the needs of underprivileged kids she served.” And because she cared so deeply for the poor, Dir. Louie Aseoche she had to care for the environment that is key to improving Moderator their lives. Back in the Philippines, she later came to lead the encounter with her, she already said she will support all the rank- reforestation of La Mesa Watershed and La Mesa Ecopark, and-file employees and think of programs that would benefit the and in 2010 was named chairperson of the Pasig River employees of the DENR, and for that I appreciate her.” Rehabilitation Commission, which led efforts to resurrect the historic river. For her work with Bantay Kalikasan, she Gina has many plans for making the DENR more public service- received the 1997 International Public Relations Award for oriented. To be able to pursue those plans efficiently, she plans Excellence for the Environment and the 2009 Outstanding to upgrade the quality of the workforce, from the ground up, “to Manilan Award for the Environment. In 2011, as managing make it fit what I want to do.” director of the ABS-CBN Foundation, and working with partner organizations, she also launched the Save Palawan The leadership she brings to the DENR has been honed by decades Movement, a signature campaign to mobilize protection for of first-hand experience working among the poor as well as in the key biodiversity areas against mining.