Daily Tribune
Shown during the weekly Rotary Club of Makati members meeting at the Peninsula Manila last 5 September 2023 are (L-R) secretary Regi Ponferrada, director Rodrigo Segura, director Bom Villatuya, AG Gemma Saduia, president Bing Matoto, director Porsche Peña, director Julian Lim, director Brian Liu and past president Louie Aseoche. | photograph courtesy of RC Makati
The Rotary Club of Makati is strengthening its legacy of helping marginalized groups as it presented ways to boost its social development projects related to housing, health, education, entrepreneurship and the environment.
"Our desire is to uplift communities, and improve their ethical and socioeconomic conditions. This is what's been happening in the past 57 years," the club's president Bing Matoto said during the members meeting which was devoted mainly to the presentation of plans, projects and programs last Tuesday at the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City.
This year and all the way through to 2024, the Club's multiple subgroups have lined up over 30 proposals to be evaluated, refined and implemented.
Among these is a dormitory project for female high school students. Rodrigo Segura, director of the Club's group for community service, said this project will be realized in coordination with Angat Buhay, a foundation created by former Vice President Leni Robredo and her supporters.
For educational projects, the Club plans to support scholarships to students of the Young Men's Christian Association, more known as YMCA, in Makati City.
Free cancer screening
In terms of health, the Club is proposing free breast and cervical cancer screening for women in 10 locations within Metro Manila in partnership with the Philippine Cancer Society. The locations will be chosen based on their populations, accessibility, and facilities. These screening services are in additional to ongoing breast and cervical screening missions already being undertaken by the Club.
The Makati Rotarians also eye conducting at least four surgical missions with the medical professionals of the Philippine General Hospital.
To expand its Clinic in the Cloud project, an online medical consultation, the Club plans to create a new online site to reach more Filipinos who might be suffering from hypertension, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, among others.
In terms of entrepreneurship, the RC Makati wants to provide microfinance ranging from P5,000 to P300,000.
One business opportunity for the youth the club plans to promote is vegetable farming through the Advancement for Rural Kids. The Makati Rotarians propose to expand this to the future agricultural entrepreneurs in Region 1.
