The 33rd induction and turnover ceremonies of the Rotary Club of Metro Iloilo was a huge success!!! The guest list, crowd turnout and the whole event was overwhelming and impressive. We have taken the level of our induction affair several notches above the standard of the rest of the other clubs. District Governor Melvin de la Serna observed that our induction affair was “like a DISCON.”.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL the MEMBERS OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF METRO ILOILO!! Once again, we made a statement and affirmed that with the support and cooperation of the members, we can amazingly achieve greater things.  As we take pride of our membership in the Rotary Club of Metro Iloilo, let us continue to strengthen each other, sustain our enthusiasm and humbly serve the community.

THANK YOU to all, who, in one way or the other, lent support to the success of the affair. Also, I would like to extend my appreciation to the following: VP Margs as Overall Chairman of the Induction Committee; PP Chris, for his induction inputs and facilitating all the printed materials and tarps; PDG Ramon, for his encouragement, for bringing in most of the guests, for hosting a dinner for the Taiwanese delegation, and insisting on getting the Totong Villaruz Band; PP Ed Apostol, for soliciting the drinks; Dir. Darrel, for coordinating the distribution of drinks; PP Fernie, for the protocol, physical arrangement and partnering with PP Francis DLC as emcees; PP Francis, for seeing to it that our Japanese guests were well taken care of.

THANK YOU to PP Kano Ng, for the beer, financial assistance and transport;  Corlie Ho, for the efficient management of the transport service for our guests, donation of one lechon as well as  seeing to it that none goes to waste; Dir. Jojo Valderama and Dir. Darrel for additional vehicles for our guests’ transport; PP Manny, for donating another lechon and taking part in the program; Dir. Tony Kon, for organizing and directing the Metrosoundz, and to all who diligently went out of their way to attend practice  sessions;  Doc Paul, for his sound advice, timely suggestions and video presentation; PP Jun Borromeo, for the food selection; PP Ray and PP Tony S, for making sure our Japanese guests enjoyed a round of golf; PP Joe III, who will feature a segment of the induction in his Tatak Ilonggo program; IPP and Sec Toto, who constantly assured me that all will go well; Norie, who efficiently saw to it that nothing is missed out from her check list; to those who brought drinks (refer to Norie’s list).

And THANK YOU to YOU, who were a BIG HELP, but would rather remain anonymous; and to all, who, in their own silent way helped make this affair a success, again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

We have received $300 from RC Hualien-Huatong and Y200,000 (Japanese Yen) broken down to the contributions of the following: Yoshinori Murakami (Y30,000), RC Tsukuba Sunrise (Y50,000), Dental Mission(Ms. Chiaki Takahashi, Ms. Junko Tozawa, Mr. Munemori Yamaguchi, Mr. Ryukai Seto, Mr. Seisaku Horie, Mr. Yoshimasa Ota, Mr. Yoshinori Murakami) (Y70,000) and undecipherable name of donor (Y50,000).

With this large amount of donation, we can now implement the projects that the community service committee had planned. Dir. Pepe and Dir. Dave, we can now roll up our sleeves higher.

Lastly, I would like to share with you a joke. Let me know what you think.

There is this story about a couple who were discussing the Rotary Club fellowship which the Rotarian husband had attended the night before. He said that after dinner, a prize had been offered for the best answer to the question: ‘What gives you the greatest pleasure in life?’ The Rotarian, having had a few drinks, wrote his answer on a piece of paper saying, ‘Going to bed with my wife,’ but he thought this might shock his wife who was attractive but prudish, so he told her a harmless white lie, and said that his answer had been, ‘Going to Mass’ and that he had won the prize – 1,000 pesos. The wife, who was a devout Catholic, was upset that Mass should be made the subject of an after-dinner joke. So next morning, as soon as her husband had left the house to go to work, she went to the Rotary Club office returning the prize accompanied by a note saying, ‘It is not true what my husband was saying last night. He only did it twice before we were married, once on our wedding day, and very seldom since.”