The Rotary Club of Manila, established in 1919, is the first Rotary Club in Asia and the biggest in the Philippines. Among its objectives are to encourage and foster the ideal of service of worthy enterprise, to recognize the worthiness of all useful occupation and apply the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business and community life and the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through fellowship.
During their weekly lunch meeting held at the prestigious Polo Club, once again Rotary Club of Manila presented its 9thTourism Awards to 10 deserving individuals who promote and support the country as a tourist destination.
Spearheaded by President Roberto “Obet†Pagdanganan, IPP Urbano “Banit†Caasi Jr. director-in-charge of vocational service and committee chairman past director Robert Lim “Bobby†Joseph, this year’s deserving awardees include, Cebu’s very own Valeriano Avila – executive producer of MyTV Channel and columnist of the Philippine Star and The Freeman for media print, Werner Berger of Werdenberg International Corp. – category, food and beverage, Johnny Chan – chairman of the Bellevue Hotels & Resorts in the category of hotels, Edward Hagedorn – Mayor of Puerto Princesa, Palawan for local government, Ramon Jimenez Jr. – Secretary of the Department of Tourism for tourism, Cristino Naguiat – Chairman & CEO of PAGCOR for Govt.- GOCC , Henry Sy Jr. – Vice-Chairman & CEO of SM Development Corp. in the category of tourism infrastructure, Lucio Tan – Chairman of Lucio Tan Group of Companies, Hall of Fame, also for tourism infrastructure, Ramon Ang – President, PAL Holdings, category airline and last but not least Charo Santos-Cancio – President & COO of ABS-CBN Corp. for media broadcast.
Dedicated and hard working Rotarian Bobby Joseph likewise received the esteemed Paul Harris Pin award for the eighth time for his unwavering support and contribution to the annual program fund and for meeting the high professional and personal standards set forth by Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary International in 1905.
Most definitely one of the greatest economic potentials of the Philippines lies in Tourism. Once again congratulations to the Rotary Club of Manila and all the awardees for promoting the tourism culture and awareness.