A Brief History…
It was during the incumbency of the District Governor Leonor “Onor” Lozano that the Board of the Rotary Club of Davao, (mother Club), on July 18, 1971, decided to organize the provisional Rotary Club of West Davao. On January 18, 1972, the RI Board approved its charter and in an appropriate and solemn ceremony the charter was then presented to the officers and the members of the
Rotary Club of West Davao by the then Governor “Onor” Lozano at the Davao Insular Hotel. After forty (40) years of doing its best to continuously live up to Rotary’s motto “Service Above Self” and dedicated observance of the Object of Rotary to help make our communities and this world a better place to live in, the Rotary club of West Davao is now proudly celebrating this historic event in its life, it’s birthday, or in Rotary Parlance it’s Charter Anniversary. In its continuing commitment to further project the influence and image of Rotary and to live up to its motto “Service Above Self”, the Rotary Club of West Davao made its presence felt in the community and the world by rendering relevant services through the Five Avenues of Service to contribute and participate in the programs of the Rotary Foundation. Among the many significant contributions to help make this world a better place to live in, the club is proud to SHOWCASE now a very progressive community that has actually thrived and progressed solely, from its infancy, under Rotary’s strong influence and determination. In the late 70’s the club boldly adopted a very depressed area, Barangay Sto. Nino (erstwhile known as Barangay Mintal Relocation area), nurtured it through the years and eventually succeeded in converting it into a progressive community. In order to alleviate the plight of the very poor and indigent settlers in the area, the victims of the huge fire in Piapi, a squatters and slum area, relocated by the government in 1976, the club helped put up basic housing structures, established two water systems (electric pumps and huge tanks plus piping), provisions for health and sanitation facilities, as well as three Day Care Centers. A skills training center (PDG Anthony Firley Building solicited by PDG Tony Garcia) was likewise put up, managed by the club’s Rotary Community Corps which was cited as one of the outstanding RCC in the Asia Pacific Region in the 80s . It has, since the time it started to help develop the area, put up and maintained three Day Care Centers. Another very laudable community service undertaking of the club is the continuous support it has been extending to Boystown Davao, that houses around 70 to 80 young indigent boys. Through their World Community Service projects, the RC Kurayoshi and RC Sapporo donated substantial amount to the club that was spent to help build toilets and bathrooms. These Japanese Rotary Clubs, through our club have donated to the City of Davao five (5) Fire Trucks, two(2) in 1983 and three (3) in 1986 and an Ambulance from Rotary District 252, Japan, now with the Philippine Red Cross here in Davao City. While the Rotary Club of Novato, CA, USA, through the intercession of our club donated refrigerators, freezer, kitchen utensils, sound systems, high-end computers and printers, and for the last four years helped finance the schooling and many personal needs of the boys, as well as helped pay part of expenses incurred in the skills training of Boystown after graduation. In the field of International Service, the Rotary Club of West Davao co-sponsored a life saving project with the Rotary Club of Novato, called Lifeplant. This is a Matching Grant program of the Rotary Foundation initiated by PDG Salvador “Bading” Angala and PP Franklin “Frank” Guillano with PE Peter Bretan of RC Novato CA, USA, that involved free Kidney transplants with technology transfer coupled with other surgical procedures and medical services. In the frontier of New Generation (Youth Service) and literacy, the Club has continuously participated in many if not all its programs like conducting lectures to teachers, holding career guidance seminars for high school graduates, organizing Interact and Rotaract Clubs, participating in RYLA activities, sponsoring and hosting Rotary Exchange Students and hosting Group Study Exchange Scholars. Our club, the Rotary Club of West Davao is blessed with quite a number of active and civic spirited Rotarians and Spouses. The ever increasing number of members contributing to the Rotary Foundation has produced almost a 100%, If not 100% , of Rotary Foundation Sustaining members and many Paul H. Harris Fellows and Multiple Paul Harris Fellow members. The club is also proud to have produced two District Governors, namely PDG Salvador “Bading” A. Angala, (1975-76) and PDG Antonio “Tony” M. Garcia (1987-88) and two former members of the Club who were elected District Governor after they transferred to another Rotary club namely PDG Antonio “Anton” B. Florendo (1983-84) and PDG Raoul E. Hilario (1999-2000). And because the club roster is replete with dedicated Rotarians whose knowledge of Rotary and its purposes and objectives, the members make themselves natural choices to be resource speakers or persons during District Assemblies, Conferences and Forums.
