You All Made Me

One more day then I will be handing this task as President over to my worthy successor. Being a servant officer had opened so much for me. It has enlightened me to what really being a leader is. It is not just organizing events and activities for the community. It is not just being present in all opening and awarding ceremonies of different sporting clubs, not just raising funds by way of parties, disco, raffles or competition among members.

In my three years as President of LFAI, I cannot remember how many phone calls I received from people I never met before, numbers of emails from different kababayans seeking help, messages that are heart breaking about kababayans who passed away, notices for the need of blood to save lives, and too many others to enumerate. These experiences made me weak, they made me strong, made me helpless, made me weep and made me realize how really IMPORTANT it is TO HAVE A kababayan LEADER in a foreign country.

To be a leader means to give your time, to lend an ear, to shed a tear. A leader means to be humble to accept that one is helpless without hand from others. To lead means to discover and believe in the capabilities of a Filipino as an individual and ascertain the strength of the Filipinos as a community, and in the process never forgetting that all these realizations become possible with God's guidance and blessings.

I have to thank all the people who were with me and even those who were against me. You all made me.