No one is prouder than his own Eta Chapter in the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus.

In a testimonial dinner at Metro Club in the financial district of Makati, 17 June 2010, Vice President-elect Jejomar Cabanuatan Binay was honored by no less than the University of the Philippines Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Association (UP APOAA) headed by Manny Clarino.

Binay, a graduate of political science and law from UP, belongs to Batch 60 of Eta, also known as Blackjacks. He was also a member of the UP Student Council and prime chancellor of the fraternity during his UP days.

In attendance included Binay’s batchmates and Eta Chapter’s personalities like former San Fabian, Pangasinan mayor and now provincial board member Mojamito R. Libunao ‘59, former Makati City councilor Armando P. Padilla ‘74, Intellectual Property Coalition chairman and famous violinist Philip John J. Lesaca ‘72, former UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG) College Secretary and faculty member Joel V. Mangahas ’81, and members of Kappa Phi Omega.

The Band of Brothers and Sisters in Service campain team were also full force during the event. In the forefront were Atty. Luis Paredes, Atty. Rico Lainez, Atty. Chato Marinas, Ms Sallie Licauco, and members of the BRODSS Office.

Binay’s inauguration is set on June 30, 2010 before Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales.

MANILA, Philippines — How did Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay do it? Against what seemed like formidable odds, he emerged the winner of the vice presidential election?

The man himself invokes preparedness and destiny, plus a number of other factors involving his opponents: The complacency of the consistent survey front-runner Sen. Manuel Roxas II and the diminished ratings of Sen. Loren Legarda. And there were Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero’s endorsement, the pro-poor brand of his party standard-bearer Joseph Estrada, and the efforts of his fraternity brothers and sisters, his city’s sister cities, towns and provinces, and his fellow senior citizens.

In his initial news conferences after the voting machines started transmitting election results that showed him leading Roxas by hundreds of thousands of votes, Binay said he knew that he would be No. 1 despite the fact that his ratings were in the low single digits when the campaign began.

“Before God and before men, I will tell you that I knew I was going to win,” he told reporters in his 21st floor perch at Makati City Hall.

Read books
Originally a presidential aspirant himself, Binay claimed to have studied and prepared for the task, and to have run one of the most organized, if not the most organized, national campaign from February to May.

“I read six or seven books on the making of the American president,” he said.
In the process of narrating what he had learned, Binay cited former US President Jimmy Carter’s experience in seeking help from Georgia businessmen.

But he stopped short, thinking that he might be giving away too much. “Teka muna (Wait), that’s my trade secret,” he said, laughing.

222 sister LGUs
Binay, 68, began traveling to various points in the country late in 2007, according to his media relations officer Joey Salgado.

The trips were made at a faster clip in 2009 when local government units invited Makati to be a sister LGU and hosted the mayor for ceremonies in cities, towns and provinces.
When Binay attended the ceremonies, he took the occasion to visit other LGUs in the area, Salgado said, adding that Makati had “sister relations” with 222 local governments.
Sister cities share technologies and innovations in governance with one another. In Makati’s case, it shares its know-how in the computerization of government services. (Binay said that with its billion-peso revenues, Makati even shared resources with needy LGUs.)

“I mingled with the local governments,” Binay said. “This is my line of competency. I speak the language of mayors and governors. I can tell them the problems and what I did with the projects, so that we can take pride in saying, ‘These were successful projects.’”
Binay said that even if only half of Makati’s sister LGUs backed his campaign, that already meant millions of votes.

But he claimed that whatever political advantage he gained from the partnerships with LGUs was only incidental: “That was only an offshoot … I hope you would believe me when I tell you that with all the blessings that we received from the Lord, it was only right that we help needy local governments.”

Troubleshooting
Chiz Escudero’s role in Binay’s campaign was not confined to his TV ad endorsing the mayor as his vice presidential candidate, according to an insider who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Escudero camp intensified its involvement in the latter part of the campaign, when it realized that Binay’s ratings were not moving despite his network of local officials.

“The network was not being translated into voter preference,” the insider said. Per the insider’s account, this was how the troubleshooting went:

Taking advantage of the fact that Roxas and his people were not coordinating with local government officials, the Escudero camp began calling these officials as well as members of the House of Representatives to push Binay.

“The governors were the key … They were told, ‘Do you expect Mar to help you? He’s not even talking to you,’” the insider said.

The monetary support that was released in the latter part of the campaign, which appeared to result in Binay’s surge that culminated in a 0.2-percentage-point lead over Roxas in the last week, was not that considerable.

The important thing was the promise made—that help would come in the form of an increased share in the internal revenue allotment, or the LGUs’ share in the taxes they collected from their jurisdictions.

‘True volunteerism’
Binay said he had his brothers and sisters in the Alpha Phi Omega to thank for his victory. “The others have persons who campaign for them. I call those payroll loyalties. In my case, my brods’ loyalty is true volunteerism. We are 120,000 in our frat. And we have from governors down to barangay officials to start with,” he said.

Jokingly, he said it was some kind of “payback” after hurdling the rigors of fraternity initiation.

After his proclamation as Vice President-elect on Wednesday, Binay waived a news conference at the House that was supposed to be held after that of President-elect Benigno Aquino III, and chose to meet with his frat brothers and sisters who gathered at the lobby of the building.

Senior citizens
Binay also credited part of his victory to the support of senior citizens who, he said, had influence on some three persons in their family.

“This one, [my opponents] failed to [tap],” he said. “Senior citizens [number] six to seven million. I am a senior citizen; I can talk in the language of senior citizens.”

He added that Makati—which provides social services, even free movies, to the elderly—was the mecca of senior citizens in the country.

That he was Estrada’s running mate also helped, Binay said, dismissing talk that his camp had junked the ousted President.

“On the issue of helping the poor, our rivals were just talking about how to do it,” he said. “President Erap and I have already done it. President Erap was a mayor of San Juan and he was a model mayor of San Juan during his time.”

‘Caught napping’
Binay agreed with observations that after dominating the pre-election surveys for the most part of the campaign period, the Roxas camp became complacent.

“In the words of Sen. Serge Osmeña, they were caught napping,” he said. “In a way that is true because if you would look at the trend of the elections, [you would see that] they only focused on their own region.”

Legarda’s sudden decline in the surveys also benefited him, Binay said. But he said he had also managed to cut into Roxas’ ratings, which dwindled from the high 50s in the beginnings to just 37 percentage points a week before Election Day.

Binay actually led Roxas by 0.2 points—37.2 to Roxas’ 37—in Pulse Asia’s last survey before the elections. By then Escudero had endorsed “NoyBi” (Aquino and Binay).

Repositioning
A repositioning of forces at the end of a campaign is nothing new, according to Binay.
“Those are the realities of politics,” he said. “It’s not just the Liberal Party that experienced it.”

The Nacionalista Party’s Manuel Villar, the administration’s Gilbert Teodoro—“all of them experienced somersaulting, positioning,” Binay said. “And usually, the somersaulting happens when the supporters of an already losing candidate go with the one who’s winning.”

Looking back, Binay said destiny played a huge part in his political career.
“It just so happened that I was beside Nene (then Interior Secretary Aquilino Pimentel Jr.) and I was appointed mayor [of Makati],” he said.

More than 20 years after that appointment by then President Corazon Aquino, Binay is now the Vice President-elect.

“The one who they said wouldn’t win was the one who won. Destiny … it happens,” Binay said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100611-274985/How-Binay-did-it-Chiz-Mar-seniors-frat-brods

The APO chapters who participated in the event included University of the Philippines in Diliman, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center, Our Lady of Fatima, Lagro and Manila Doctors. The service was done at the Baranggay UP Campus Health Center from 8AM to 5PM.

Doctors, nurses and members of APO International Collegiate Service Fraternity and Sorority conduct “Operation Free Tuli” for 105 boys aged 7-16 from depressed areas of Barangay UP Campus last May 29, 2010. (APO)

Despite the unbearable heat of the day, the service project was deemed a success and “filled with fun.” The boys who underwent circumcision together with their parents eagerly queued in line early in the morning to have their names listed to avail of the free circumcision and medical check up. Free snacks and medicines donated by fraternity brothers, sorority sisters and benevolent donors were also distributed to the patients and parents.

“This service project is just a speck of what our fraternity and sorority has been doing since the very first day of our foundation in 1925 and we intend to do it as often as possible to share what we have to the needy,” remarks Bing Lasam, the Grand Chancellor of the Eta Chapter from the University of the Philippines at Diliman. “Doing services to help our fellowmen is the solid foundation that keeps our fraternity and sorority strong and healthy. This is also what binds our brothers and sisters together. But despite that, we believe that the experience and happiness brought about by sharing what we know and what we have is something money cannot buy and we think that it is a moral responsibility everyone should be doing.”

“Indeed, this service project was a success not only to the eyes of the Alpha Phi Omega International Collegiate Service Fraternity and Sorority but also to the boys who were circumcised and their parents. This project wouldn’t have been made possible without the generous help of the following: Mr. Robert Sing and Col. Belli Tamayo of Frank Reed Horton Memorial Lodge #379, Bro. Alex Fernandez of Unilab, Bro. Boy Tan-Gatue, AKAP and the Vice-Mayor of Quezon City Joy Belmonte,” said the organizers. (APO/PIA)

Source: Philippine Information Agency

Brod Romeo “Jawo” C. Abasolo Jr, 09A, Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Sculpture, is one of the rising superstars in the Philippine Fine Arts. He recently won an honorable mention award in sculpture in the 42nd Annual Shell National Students Art Competition. Brod Jawo is under the tutelage of one of the most revered Filipino artists, Brod Nestor Vinluan ’68.

Brod Belmar “Bing” S. Lasam Jr., 99A, was a former student of the UP College of Fine Arts major in painting, a graduate of Bachelor in Interior Design and currently a graduate student in the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning. Brod Belmar is a member of the prestigious and exclusive PI Gamma Mu International Honor Society in Social Sciences. He is eyeing to enter Columbia University in New York City to study architecture or the University of Pennsylvania to study Master of Fine Arts.

The ancient Eta Chapter Bulletin Board. Still looking good after 20 years(?)

AS Walk in Blue and Gold

Eta Chapter Alumni Leadership

Eta Alumni and Visiting brethren from other chapters pose with APO National President Mel Adriano

The 90′s

Bro. Ojie Santillan

Calm before the storm

AS Steps

Here it comes…

The banners of Leadership, Friendship and Service

Hubad na mga Bayani

Well done to my senior Etan brods here in Oz!
It’s fellowship time, inuman nah!

Bro. Raul Manongdo ’76D

Photos by Bro. Gene Licauco. December 26, 2009.

The residents of our chapter in cooperation with STAND UP – the leading political alliance of organizations, conducted an election automation forum last December 8, 2009 at the UP College of Law Theater. I did the opening remarks for the event and another one from the University Student Council delivered another speech. Speakers were Leo Lim from the Technical Department of the COMELEC who facilitated the dry-run of automated elections and presented the pros and cons of the process, Dr. Arwin Serrano from the PPCRV discussed other features of the system, Congressman Mong Palatino of Kabataan delivered another speech, as well as Professor Rosa Castillo from CENPEG, and finally a representative from the Center for Nationalist Studies. Around 40-50 students from different communities near UP participated and asked questions during the open forum. We gave Jojo Binay folders which the students appreciated. At the end of the day, it was a success. We are planning another automation forum come January or early March.

Yesterday, we went to CRIBS Foundation for abused female children. Around 20-30 were there to participate. We played games, sang songs, gave some inspirational messages, ate together, and saw a movie. We arrived at around 4 PM and finished the project around 8 PM. Again, it was a success and we will definitely go back there.

Our Prison Project, in cooperation with NCAR will be on the 20th of December. It was originally scheduled today but we are allowed by the jail management of Bilibid on the 20th from 12 noon onwards.

Tomorrow, we will be having our Pagbangon Benefit Concert at Skylark Bar and Grill. A portion of the proceeds will be given to CRIBS and victims of the recent typhoons. Tickets will be at 250 Php inclusive of 1 beer, and the show will start at 8 PM and will be finished by 2 AM. Brod Aaron “Papins” Mendoza’s band will be performing as well as Crazy as Pinoy Rap Group and other upcoming bands. So, see you there!

Finally, the Oblation Run will be on the 15th, 12 noon at the Palma Hall Building, UP Diliman. Fellowship follows at Puti Bar – Timog Avenue. Be there!

Eta for Excellence!

Fritz G. Sapon
Grand Chancellor