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

Fining Session Back in Meetings

It was our first regular-style meeting of the new year after our Club Assembly on July 4. It was held in a part of the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Hotel which made our three tables attendance look sparse. Pres. Joe drew attention to his message in ‘Ang Magiting’ about PP Pabling’s promise to pay for all the lunches the first time our members’ attendance reaches 40. However, District Governor Ato Magadia was there, and we had a professional guest speaker.

Pres. Joe has revived the Fining Session and Recognition Time, and PP Gus Lagman rose to the occasion as Finemaster. Happily, no fines were actually imposed as we learned about the arrival of the Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines, though not from Atenean Porong Herrera. Likewise, PP Tony Chong and Larry Bortles did not contribute much to our knowledge of road accidents. The Fining Session revealed that worldwide deaths are about 1.2 million per year with 50 million injuries. A thousand people under the age of 25 die everyday from road accidents – an increasing trend, particularly in developing countries.

Chito Frondoso summarized the results of his many messages on the RCMN Yahoo Group about both our inbound Sister Club guests for our Induction Ceremonies on July 18 and our arrangements for visiting RC Raffles City in Singapore in early August. As if that was not enough, Chito is also coordinating our participation in the District Governor’s (Golf) Cup. The word ‘golf’ was not, of course, actually mentioned.

Mike Clancy introduced Vicente (Sonny) Santiago, our guest speaker. Mr. Santiago is a director of Mike’s company Philippine Business Leaders Forum (PBLF). He is a personal effectiveness trainor and his topic was “Manpower Productivity in the Filipino Corporate Environment.” His context was the increasingly globalized world in which we all now work and the need to watch out for miscommunications resulting from cultural differences. For example, if you ask a negative question, what does the answer ‘yes’ mean? Where is the border between being polite and being a liar? Excessive consideration for others’ feelings can result in doing what neither really wants to do. It is important to say no when no needs to be said, and not to be too inclined to tell people what they want to hear. Mr. Santiago hopes to develop with PBLF his Lifeworks Programme within a corporate environment, with the goal of taking the programme to other parts of Asia and to Australia.