| The meeting was held on Friday, August 17, 2001 at Long Yuan Restaurant in Cubao, Quezon City, hosted by Mr. Arsenio Tanco, president of Club Marinduqueno, Inc. I was seated next to Geraldine and Robert Tanco,children of Mr. & Mrs. Arsenio Tanco and where Ret. Gen. Santiago Alino and Ret. Maj. Gen. & Mrs. Renato Garcia were seated also. I found the Generals young looking considering they were already retired. They were pleasant and have great sense of humor. Who ever said that Generals seldom smile is wrong. Smiles make your heart feel younger - so they say. Don't you folks remember the song with the lyrics like these: "A certain smile, a certain face, can lead your aching heart to a merry chase". Well, it's not really merry chasing NPA's or Abu Sayyafs but chasing chickens or chicks can be more fun, don't you think? The Emcee's were Mr. Jaime "Jim" Barbosa, Ms. Sandra Villamayor, and Atty. Aurelio P. Pamfilo, Jr. who did a wonderful job on their assignments. Mrs. Rosalinda A. Villamayor, the graceful widow of Judge Manuel de Lara Villamayor, conducted the invocation. Mr. Arsenio Tanco rendered a touching speech - "The Club Marinduqueno, Inc. and the Marinduque International, Inc. are far apart and yet so close, however, we can do great things for Marinduque with our fellowship", he said in one part of his speech. It wasn't just "talk" for Mr. Tanco, he and his wife Alice, together with some of CMI officers joined the "Mission of Love". Dr. Rodolfo Jao, the president of Marinduque International, Inc. was called over to the podium to give some background of the MI, Inc. The organization was founded in 1993 at Southern California with Dr. Hector Sulit as the first President. He held the position for four consecutive years while the organization was still in its infancy. |
| Celso Mataac, Jr. of MACA succeeded Dr. Sulit in an election held in Chicago. Dr. Jao, in his speech also mentioned the intentions of the two organizations to help each other as a sister-organization relationship in order to effectively tackle bigger projects intended for the under- privilege kababayans. He siad, "We have to look back and do something for Marinduque, we can accomplish more if we will work together." Rudy acknowledged the presence of members from MACA, MANC, MASC, MACUSA, MESA, and MCSC. He concluded: "by working together, we can accomplish more and if our mission is to help, how can we fail?" He then introduced Rey Muhi, being the Editor of the MARINDUQUENEWS to elaborate on what the MI, Inc. is doing as an organization. The Marinduque International, Inc. according to Steve Sosa, who helped draft it's constitution and by-laws was structured not as an umbrella organization but as an "executive council" to execute and implement a common project of the six Marinduque associations in the United States and Canada, namely: The Marindu-que Association of the Capital Area (MACA); Marinduque Association of Chicago, USA (MACUSA); Marinduque Association of Northern California (MANC); Marinduque Associiation of Southern California (MASC); the Marinduquenos of the Eastern Seaboard of America (MESA); and the Marinduque Cultural Society of Canada (MCSC). The six organizations look-up to the wisdom and vested authority of the Chairman of the Executive Council, which is the president of the Marinduque International, Inc. in matters pertaining to bigger projects of the association, such as the medical mission. The chapter organizations, on the other hand, have their own individual projects, such as the scholarship programs, etc. |
| However, when calamity strikes, the local chapters responds to some emergency situations whenever funds are available with the approval of its Board of Directors. In the case of MESA, the association contributed to the MarinduCare Foundation, the Mt. Pinatubo disaster, the construction of St. Clare Missionary, and other events. MESA has also been involved in promoting our culture and traditions such as the Moriones and Putong through the Middlesex County Heritage and Cultural Commission. Prof. Myrna Manguera-Profeta mentioned the great opportunity, the Rizal Technological Institute at Mandaluyong, Rizal, of which she is a Dean of the College of Engineering could offer considering the much lower tuition fee ($300) the school is charging for a student of his/her one year residency. Dr. Hector Sulit discussed some aspects and logistics of the Mission of Love and announced an additional Anesthesiologist joining the mission. Ching Jao Manalo clarified the "Updated Mission's Itinerary" distributed in the U.S. Dr. Rudy Jao also announced the PAF plane which will take missioners to Marinduque from Villamor airbase at 7am on Sunday, May 20, 2001. Edgar Alandy requested Gen. Alino for an assurance of the mission's security especially in Sta. Cruz where Police they said, had an encounter with the NPA's. Andre Belarmino explained the business of MANC. Scholarship program is mostly the chapter's main project. The meeting adjourned at about 10pm. By Rey Muhi |
| |MARINDUQUE INTERNATIONAL, INC. |
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| CLUB MARINDUQUENO, INC. & MARINDUQUE INTERNATIONAL, INC. Joint Meeting |
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| Volume 5.1 Fall 2001 |
| MARINDUQUENEWS International |
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