If I may say it myself, the culminating activity of ICEWA’s 25th
founding anniversary was seriously hot.
But that’s getting ahead of the story.
The story began when our set of Officers and Board of Directors were
inducted into office in the first week of March. On our first official meeting,
we found out we were to hold the association’s 25th founding
anniversary in April, with a grand ICEWA Day celebration.
Now that was a challenge. In the two years that the association
celebrated ICEWA Day, both were held successfully. The first one was in
Enchanted Kingdom, Sta. Rosa, Laguna and the 2nd one at the Ocean
Park in Luneta, Manila. In both occasions, we had fun, we were well-fed, went
home with some goods, and had a really good day.
Now the challenge was upon us. And we took on the challenge not really
knowing what we were getting into. To stage a major event involving roughly 200
people within a month and a half’s time? How difficult was that?
At first we were excited. There were so many ideas, so many things we
wanted to do and provide to the members. But as the days and weeks went by, reality
started to sink in. Too many ideas meant too many things to do. And too many
things to do meant too many considerations which we didn’t know had to be considered. Suddenly,
we were talking about terms we never
heard of before – RFQ, NOA, Philgeps, canvass, ABC, and other related foreign
terms. Worse, we found out that all these foreign terms could lead us to so
many mistakes.
How bad was our situation? Name any part of the celebration, it had its
own problem(sssss): the Thanksgiving Mass, the programs, the shirts, the cap,
the venue for the culminating activity, the livelihood seminar, the food for
the various activities, the transportation to the venue of the culminating
activity, the prizes for the games, and so on and so forth.
It was like the anniversary celebration was cursed.
But really, God works in mysterious ways. As a deadline would approach,
a solution would surface. Each time we thought a plan was lost, the tangle
would get untangled. And the program would go as planned. Or as close as
possible to the original plan.
As it turned out, it looks as though God was just
making a way for us to build bridges.
It was a time to learn humility, to acknowledge
that we needed the help of a lot of people, for problems to clear out.
And bayanihan, once again, came to life. We sought
the help of so many people – and help came, in all shape and sizes, from the
young and the old.
In the end, almost everything turned out all right.
The Thanksgiving Mass, officiated by Fr. Dave Concepcion, was solemn and
beautiful.
The Bowling Tournament provided fun and healthy competition.
The shirts and cap looked good as they were handed out.
The foods were always enough, and the choices were almost often met with
approval.
And the culminating activity? Let the photos speak for it.
The culminating event was held somehow differently from the ones that
came before. The venue was provincial with modest facilities, and the program,
food and games were simple.
But there was something in the air that made the
event pleasurable, momentous and festive despite the unpleasant circumstances.
And I believe it’s this – the people chose to be happy, to make a go of the
event, to darn the pesky nuances and just live it up.
Taking that choice made all the difference. It made them enjoy the simple mushroom congee, and
all those mushroom-laden lunch menu, the difficult but doable games, the kiddie
pool, the “buwis-buhay” river trek and ATV TRaxx activities, the race for the
now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t “pasalubong” items, the highly appreciated
take-home mushroom, and, the queen of all the surprises, the to-die-for
halo-halo topped with ice cream!
But let it be said, through all that we’ve been
through for the sake of this 25th anniversary of ICEWA, three things
were steadfast – the solid support from our Commissioner Dennis B. Funa and his
management team, the determination of the ICEWA Officers and Board of Directors
(led by Ms. Bebot Bernales) to make the event memorable, and the steady supply
of friends who helped us get through the dire situations we found ourselves in,
many, many times.
To have that kind of results, we couldn’t have been just lucky. We were
truly, seriously, and undeniably blessed!
Happy 25th Anniversary, ICEWA! To God be
the glory!!!!
...
Note: ICEWA stands for Insurance Commission
Employees’ Welfare Association, the union group of the Insurance Commission.
Its current officers are Bebot G. Bernales (President), Bobot Labrador (Vice
President), Maria Angelita Q. Rufin (Secretary), Divine Pamute (Treasurer), and
Luigi Dato (Auditor) and the Board of Directors are Atty. John Apatan, Leila
Espineli, Ariel Sim, Chona Cortez, Grace Christy Domingo, Badong Lastimosa,
Carlo Conde, Timmy Santiago, and Leony Lansangan.