Message during the First Organizational Meeting and Planning Conference of the Board of Trustees of the U.P. APO International Service Foundation (UPAPOISF), 21 June 2006, Sunset Room, Manila Yacht Club

Looking back, 2003 was an opportunity to call on all brothers and sisters, young and old, here and overseas, to once again gather ’round the campfire and to work together to bring a joyful and memorable clebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the premier University of the Philippines Alpha Phi Omega.

Each and everyone did his/her share of the task. It was more than the weekly Saturday meetings at a conference room at the premier City of Makati that we brought shape to that celebration. But more than that, each meeting and evry time we meet it was reminiscent of brother/sister once again. The 50th anniversary celebration was nothing but a huge success, a milestone in our history and so in our lives.

Now, our members want much more. They all realized not just the potential but the POWER of the U.P. Alpha Phi Omega in getting together. Without any doubt or dispute, the U.P. APO minds can be the best in the Diliman campus. Tapping their ideas, resources and wealth of experiences, then add on that U.P. APO COMMITMENT, and what have you got? One word sums it up – Greatness!

There is now that desire to continue to say and work together for what we all believed in when we walked the halls of the fables Arts and Sciences on our way to the home – the Greenhouse. Once again words have become familiar, and echo like a sounded clarion yearning for its fulfillment.

There is the will to put our minds, hearts and hands together to make an indelibl mark in the Philippine landscape to earn the love and respect, admiration and gratitude of the Filipino people, and to create a continuing yet lasting legacy in U.P. Diliman.

Brothers and sisters, the clarion’s call is sounded, and we call on all members to gather once again in pursuit of a mission, not just a dream, of claiming our rightful place in Philippine Society and in the Hearts of the Filipino People for our U.P. Alpha Phi Omega.

Together, brothers and sisters, let us now begin to create our tomorrow.

EMMANUEL V. CLARINO ‘67-C, President, U.P. Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Association
ANGEL A. TUAZON ‘71-B, Chair, U.P. APO Foundation Committee
ROGELIO M. MORALES ‘73-A, Co-Chair, U.P. APO Foundation Committee