Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

In Every Crisis, There is an Opportunity

The sixth LEAP congress is finally pushing through on February 20 at the University of Makati – and I hope you all will support this gathering of hundreds of college seniors. This annual event aims to bring together the future of our society and role models who can inspire the audience to realize their potential.

LEAP – an acronym for the League of Extraordinary and Admired Pilipino Leaders – is happening thanks to Past President Ric dela Torre. He, his Ann Daisy, and many others in club and with our Inner Wheel organization have been instrumental in carrying on this worthwhile project. As you know, this event almost failed to get organized mainly because funding sources dried up amid the global financial meltdown. Undaunted, Ric worked on an alternative program to pare down costs while keeping the essentials – which is to create a situation where young minds and inspiring role models can meet.

Perhaps this year, precisely because of the crisis gripping the world, the LEAP congress is more important. Those attending our event, along with the 800,000 who will graduate from college and join the workforce this year, face even more difficult time looking for work. For many of them, getting a college diploma will be bittersweet when they face the harsh reality that there may not be job waiting for them, or that they might be underemployed, where the work they find will not pay enough to be financially independent.

Indeed, the future appears uncertain for this generation. But they say that in every crisis, there is an opportunity.

All too common in recent times, people have always complained about young people not caring, not listening, always distracted by texting or by something else. Perhaps a little crisis can jolt some to become more aware, or maybe to listen more.

And the difficulties the club faced can have a silver-lining, too. In a sense, cost constraints may help us focus on what is really important about the LEAP – that what is at the core, and not the trimmings, matters most. And so what remains is our audience, the so-called future of our country.

Filipino national hero Dr. Jose Rizal is famous for referring to the youth as the future of the Philippines. That adage has stayed with so many, and it never fails to amaze me how one person can be so influential even a century after his death.

Today, about 50 percent of the 90 million or so Filipinos are younger than age 25. Perhaps the so-called future has never been so numerous. If LEAP can inspire one, just one, to be like Rizal – or some other admirable person – imagine how bright the future can be.

Fourth Leg of the Governor’s Cup

Next week is hectic for RCMN. A day before the LEAP, on February 19 (Thursday), our club will be hosting the fourth leg of the governor’s cup. Like LEAP, the tournament has suffered for lack of sponsorship support. So if you can, please contribute a hole sponsorship or some other amount you can spare. And if that is not possible, sign up and play.

But if you’re not a golfer, it would be nice to see you the following day at the University of Makati for the LEAP congress.

Enjoy the rest of the week.