It was a humid Saturday morning of October 27, 2012 when I checked in with my mother and my grand daughter at Water Gran Resort in General Santos City, Philippines. I just arrived from the States two days before and I was still battling with a terrible jet lag. I was attending the second national convention of Roman Sigma Fraternity and Sorority. I joined the group when I was in my first year college in Mindanao State University, main campus. My hometown General Santos City chapter was the host headed by our energetic, get-the-job-done type of person and successful entrepreneur sis Gina Perez Johnston. My emotion was mixed, not sure wether it was because of too much anticipation of meeting my brothers and sisters that I haven't seen for almost three decades and the anxiousness of meeting young and new breed of Romans for the first time or nervousness because I am one of the speakers after my batch mate in the Triangle Batch of '82 brother Juan Lorenzo Castillon assigned me a topic with a few days notice and very short time to prepare. As soon as I got inside our room, I immediately tried to get some sleep because I haven't had any for almost three days. I was really exhausted and I could feel my system was messed up, the day was my night and the night was my day sort of feeling as far as my body was concerned. But it was not long enough and soon I started hearing commotions outside. The participant brothers and sisters were coming in to register, some with their families in tow. I was thinking of how uncomfortable I would be the whole day because I could feel the heat and humidity intensifying as the sun slowly moved into mid day. But this thought was overtaken by my excitement as I looked at my brothers and sisters from different colleges and universities and alumni from all over the country were looking all set for two days and two nights of fun, foods, bonding and camaraderie, brainstorming and everything in between.
The convention center was an open hall and was the center of all our activities. We started with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist officiated by Rev. father Rogie Castellano, CP. If I had to write all the events and activities, I won't be able to cover them all in just one post. Even if I could, I won't be able to mention all the names of everybody and what they did to make this affair successful as it was. But I am posting photos below to give everyone (especially members of the Roman Sigma) a bird's eye view of that affair.
sis RenRen, me, Father Rogie and the head of the
host chapter, sister Gina Perez Johnston
The Speakers and their topics:
Bro JuanLorenzo Castillon,
The Steering Committee chairman in his opening address
Bro. Dr. Epimaco Cabanlit, PhD on A Glimpse of
of The Glorious Past, an Inspirational Speech
Bro. Alexander Godwin Beley on Milestone of
Roman Sigma 1969-present
Bro. Engineer Ramil Sanchez on The Emerging Role
of Fraternities in Higher Education
Bro Dante Manlimos on Building The National
Structure-Strategy To Expansion and Effective
Delivery of Services
myself on Exploring The Possibility Of Creating A
Welfare Fund
sis Gina P. Johnston, on Recruitment Practices
and The Legal Impediments
Bro. Nestor Longakit, on Constitution Enhancement
and Centralized Communication
Bonding and Fun together:
me with the gorgeous and beautiful wives of my
brothers; we call our group The M Group
bro. Ramil believes there is treasure inside the tuna
belly
The brainstorming:
And the hilarious scenes of the search for False Gay:
The Picture taking before goodbye:
There were two things that highlighted the Second National Convention. First, we were able to pass resolutions and adopted changes that the group believed are relevant and will cater to the needs of the members and the group as a whole. Second was the creation of the National Executive Council and election of its officers. The Following are the elected National Executive Council Officers:
National President :Bro. Engr. Ramil Sanchez
Alumni :Bro. Dante Manlimos
Bro. Nestor Longakit
Sis. Gina Perez Johnston
Bro. Roquito Malones, Jr.
Bro. Mario Pelarion
Bro. Alexander Godwin Beley
Student/Sorority :Sis. Leslie Mendoza Jumawid
Student/Fraternity :Bro. Mon Sambo
Secretary :Sis. Cynthia de Los Reyes
Treasurer :Bro. Engr. Zaldy Avena
I couldn't help but be amazed at how bro. Juan Lorenzo Castillon managed this group (as our steering committee chairman) from Bangkok where he has been based. And how sister Elgien Verano who is based in New Zealand was able to collect the money needed for this gathering. But utilizing the technology and with the cooperation and full support of each and every active member from all over the world, we were able to pull off the convention successfully. It was made possible because of our team work and our love and dedication to Roman Sigma. We truly worked together as a family. It was an affair to remember for everyone who was there, an inspiration for others who did not make it because of individual circumstances and a challenge for those who are planning to attend the future conventions.
Just like every gathering of this size the Second National convention was not perfect. There were some challenges that we had to deal with. But whatever problems and frustrations or things not done had become learning curves and lessons learned that will certainly be a guiding force for the next gathering of this kind. Besides, after all the fun and the priceless moments of togetherness and bondings we had, everything else was insignificant. This convention's theme was "Strengthen Our Bond, Let's Convene To Shape The Future." Everybody who was there would agree that we did developed a much closer relationship among brothers and sisters and we were able to laid down plans that will make our group more solid and strong that it can ever be. In this convention we have built a strong foundation for a much more focused goals and objectives that matched the group's capacity and readiness for the challenges of the future.
After witnessing how the host team worked without counting the cost and listening to brothers and sisters speak and defended their argument during the different workshops, I felt the pride of being in this group. Back in college, being one of the recognized organization in the university, I have always been proud of Roman Sigma and our contribution to the community and our achievements in different fields that we were involved then. But the business proper of this convention presided by Bro. Juan Castillon was a moment that will be instilled in my mind for a long time. I was in awe and short of words in describing my admiration during the deliberation and voting proper at how our Law student brother Mario Pelarion and the rest of the general assembly defended their stand on the issues they were passionate about. For that couple of hours, I felt I was in the House of Congress. It was very commendable to say the least.
We believe that with the leadership of our newly elected national president, the smart, result-oriented bro. Ramil Sanchez and with the help of the rest of the National Executive Council officers, the Roman Sigma will be stronger and more solid. They have all our trust and confidence that they will lead our group in achieving our goals. We will be an organization to reckon with.
We believe that with the leadership of our newly elected national president, the smart, result-oriented bro. Ramil Sanchez and with the help of the rest of the National Executive Council officers, the Roman Sigma will be stronger and more solid. They have all our trust and confidence that they will lead our group in achieving our goals. We will be an organization to reckon with.
