‘Before I let you go’

Netnet Camomot

MY sleeping habits are almost back to normal. In other words, starting on July 1, 2016, please don’t call me before 12 noon.

And all along I thought I’ve become a morning person, for Rotary and Service Above Self. Only to realize that the newly discovered early-to-bed-early-toise habit has an expiration date and it’s the same as that of my presidential term.

We’re now preparing for our induction, with me as the outgoing prez. And it feels so good to be finally in this phase. There are still many things to do but the pace in which they’re thriving is not as fast. It’s in slow-mo, like watching a snail crawl. I gotta feeling the induction itself will be relaxed, the let-your-hair-down kind, let’s party, for our term is so over! Yes!

The Rotary year starts every first of July. That’s when the president-elect morphs to president, the president morphs to immediate past president (IPP), and so on and so forth, let the good times roll, so be it, let it be. Whew.

There are 13 Rotary clubs in Rotary International District 3870 Zone 1 which covers Cagayan de Oro and Opol, Misamis Oriental. All of them will have their handover and induction ceremonies and these have started last month and may go on and on till next month. There will be weeks of dance practices, choosing club awardees, preparing invitations, plaques, etc.

The induction itself will be the happiest moment for the outgoing president. Yehey! Finally, human na gyud. Although he may have to wait for June 30 when his term officially ends.

The other presidents and I call each other classmate. There’s the Zone 1 Council of Presidents where we can share each other’s challenges, and where we may learn the goals of the district governor and the Rotary International president if one of our classmates keeps reminding us about them. For our batch, it was Rotary Club of West CDO Pres. Ann Medes who was our ever thoughtful classmate, informing us about the goals and even about protocol.

Despite her constant reminders, I didn’t look at the goals until last January, that’s six months after beginning our term as presidents. Panic mode for me: Whoa, you mean to say the Club has to meet all those goals? Or some of them? Or one, two, three…? Puede mohangyo? Haha. Yeah, right. Tell the RI president if it’s OK to meet only one goal.

To non-Rotarians who still believe up to now that the Rotary is for the elite who would merely put up a tarpaulin and take it off once the project is over, please join any of our projects and see if that’s the case.

District Governor-Elect Jing dela Calzada says it’s passion for Rotary and what it stands for that drives us to serve the community.

Now that the May 9 election has produced its own set of incoming officials, too, for Pinas, let’s see if passion is also the driving force that has inspired them to run for seats in Malacanang, the Senate, House of Representatives, provincial capitol, city hall… Coming soon to this theater is the run for seats in the barangay hall.

And not all barangay officials are there for political reasons. Something has awakened them to the reality of genuine public service, and that motivated them to run at least in the barangay level first. The city council and higher positions may come in later.

That’s how genuine public service may start, and let’s hope no rabid politician will influence them to shift to purely political reasons before they can move forward to a higher calling.

Genuine public service requires a lot of focus on the goal so that the public server won’t mind all the obstacles and challenges he has to face, from grabbers with crab mentality to robbers with graft and corruption in their agenda. It can be a difficult climb on that ladder which won’t always lead to the top but may hover first somewhere in the middle where the climber can learn more lessons that will give him a stronger determination to reach his goal.

If he loses focus for one moment, that’s the time when he will contemplate on stopping already, too tired to go on.

There’s this belief among some Pinoys that a genuine public servant doesn’t exist among politicians. Blame that on the Marcoses, Napoleses, and others who have allegedly stolen billions of pesos from the national treasury.

Looking at the recent report of campaign contributions for the latest batch of “presidentiables” and “vice-presidentiables,” you can’t help wonder how they’ll get that money back to their contributors. And will the returns be in cash or the equivalent amount in kind. But that’s only possible if the contributors treated their contributions as investment.

Investment? Yes, for greener pastures. Wink wink.

Or oink oink if they’re now in Napoles mode and are considering the revival of the pork barrel. Because I think that barrel was thrown away once upon a time, right? Or am I wrong? Uh.

With Facebook as my only source of news lately, the latest news that I did watch was Baste singing “Before I Let You Go,” as requested by his sis Sara.

Now, if you don’t know who Baste and Sara are, better continue hibernating in Siberia.

A club’s outgoing prez may want to sing that, too–“Before I Let You Go”–as he tries to find the words for his valedictory address. But, unlike Pinas’s incoming president, he may have to mince his words as he looks forward to July 1.

Finally! It’s about time! It’s so over na.