RC MAKATI: A PARAGON OF PUBLIC SERVICE

The Rotary Club of Makati — the “mother club” of all Rotary Clubs in Makati — was the first Rotary Club chartered in the City of Makati on 12 March 1966.

From the original 46 members at the formal chartering ceremony by Rotary International at the Manila Polo Club in Forbes Park in 1966, membership has grown to 142 — 132 regular members and 10 honoraries, as of 23 January 2024, making it one of the largest Rotary Clubs in District 3830.

Half of the Club are CEOs, chief operating officers or chief finance officers of the country’s largest corporations; a fourth are heads or senior officers of financial institutions, and the rest includes members of the diplomatic corps, principal officers of multilateral institutions, seasoned businessmen and leading practitioners in various fields. Also, the Club’s international character is reflected in the diversity of cultures represented by 11 nationalities in its roster.

Pride is derived from the quality of Club members, which include a past Rotary International director (Rafael Hechanova +), and seven District Governors (Rafael Hechanova (+), Bert Montinola (+), Tony Quila, Sid Garcia, Robert Kuan (+), Pepito Bengzon, and DGN Reggie Nolido.

HONORS AND RECOGNITION

Particularly laudable is the Club’s honor of being a six-time recipient of the district’s most coveted twin distinctions — Overall Most Outstanding Club and Overall Most Outstanding Club President Awards.

Six of its members are also recipients of the “Service Above Self Award,” the highest honor that RI bestows on individual Rotarians.

RI has likewise honored the Club with two Significant Achievement Awards — one for the establishment of its funding arm, the Makati Rotary Club Foundation Inc., and the other, for Project Angels, an environment advocacy program for the youth.

Two projects, Partnership in Service Program and Rotary Homes, were recognized by the first Rotary Club in the Philippines, RC Manila, as among the Top 10 Service Projects in the country during its centennial celebration on 1 June 2019, with Rotary Homes conferred the Top Service Project Award.

What distinguishes RC Makati is its preference for long-lasting, sustainable projects instead of one-shot programs and dole-outs, benefiting target communities over an extended period of time.

LEGACY PROJECTS

Among the Club’s exemplary projects are Books Across the Seas (since 1968), a book distribution project that has given away over 16 million books to some 65,000 schools; Stepping Stone Learning Center, (since 1972) a school for children with special needs; Teaching the Deaf to Speak (since 1994), in support of the Philippine Institute for the Deaf, a school that has pioneered the teaching of speech to the hearing-impaired; Bantay Bata (since 1977) which is a program that trains parents, community caregivers and social workers on the prevention and detection of child abuse and how to rehabilitate child abuse victims; and a Nutrition Program (since 2004) for pre-and grade school children in public schools and needy communities.

Likewise notable are projects including a DepEd-accredited Home Education and Livelihood Program (since 2017) that provides access to K-12-quality education to out-of-school youth and adults; PGH Surgical Missions (since 1989) providing for free surgical missions at the Philippine General Hospital; Drug Rehab Project (since 2016), offering programs in partnership with Caritas Manila aimed at rehabilitating drug surrenderers with skills training and values formation sessions; and Air Quality Monitoring System Project (since 2015) with strategically-located machines measuring air pollution levels in real time.

RECENT UNDERTAKINGS

Major recent projects include Save our Reef Buds (since 2021) aimed at regenerating near-shore marine ecosystems severely damaged by destructive fishing methods and helping local fishermen by invigorating the local fishing industry; Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Mission (since 2022), in partnership with the Philippine Cancer Society and RC Makati Premier District, Hatch (since 2022), an innovation challenge centered on agriculture, health education, and social entrepreneurship aimed at identifying and recognizing innovative or high-impact social enterprises; Saving Ruby (since 2023), a health project in partnership with St. Luke’s Medical Center centered on the treatment of a child from an indigent family suffering from leukemia; Dualtech Scholars (since 2023), a scholarship program consisting of a rigorous two-year technical education course; and Mental health initiatives, in partnership with the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation, focusing on promoting awareness and equipping the youth with tools for mental resilience through peer support, and supporting young innovators through the Paing Hechanova Creativity Center which particularly seeks to promote digital innovation. Feeding and Nutrition progams and Disaster Relief are also regular Club projects each Rotary year.

TRF CONTRIBUTIONS

Consistently the district’s biggest contributor to RI’s The Rotary Foundation, the Club’s aggregate contribution to the Foundation as of 12 March 2024 stood at $2,602,053 and a per capita contribution of $19,712, the highest in District 3830.

The Club boasts of four members who achieved the prestigious status of being a part of the elite Arch Klumph Society which recognizes major donors with contributions exceeding $250,000.

In addition, it has in its roster 29 major donors who have each contributed at least $10,000.

RC Makati is privileged to have a well-endowed funding partner in the Makati Rotary Club Foundation Inc. which supports the Club’s long-term projects benefiting individuals or entire communities.

Initially, the Foundation generated funds from rental income from its 3-story arcade at the Makati Commercial Center. Today, its humanitarian projects are funded by rental income from properties it owns in Parañaque and Las Piñas.

The Club also has the distinction of having its own building and facilities where the offices of the Club and Foundation are maintained at Guadalupe Viejo, Makati, a stone’s throw away from The Metropolitan Club and the posh Rockwell Center.