Good afternoon, Fellows of the ADI and guests.
In 2003, it was such an honor for me to be included in this august body of dentist-academicians. My sponsor was Master Life Fellow and Past President Natividad C. Gervasio. Eighteen years later, it is an even greater honor for me to stand as your President. But aside from being honored, I feel humbled and …. Anxious.
Anxious, because as we were preparing for this convocation, I thought of paying some sort of tribute to our forebearers, the ELEVEN IN SEVENTY-SEVEN. And going through their achievements was a humbling experience. WE ARE STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS and that is why we have come far as an organization. In the course of preparing for this virtual convocation, Dr. Malloy Sembrano and I were able to unearth precious photographs, the video of this were shown earlier during the business meeting and later in the fellowship. And it was a poignant trip down memory lane, WE WALKED AMONG GIANTS AND WERE LED BY GIANTS.
And this reminder helped me plan for the next two years…
First, ADI-RP Section should take care of its members. As I was perusing the website of ADI, our mother organization, I came across the provision of our Academy’s By-Laws on Life Fellows and Retired Fellows. The Board of ADI-RP Section will look into our fellows who can be elevated to these statuses. In the fact, the induction of Past President Ermelinda Galang, has been long overdue. This also means that we will be more active in the International scene, participating in meetings and decision-makings.
Second, I plan to revive the late Master Fellow’s Sofronio San Juan’s vision to create an annal for the ADI-RP Section. Every biennial, and I should know this as I have prepared several souvenir programs already, digging up pictures of activities and records is like hunting for treasure in the Bermuda Triangle. Our Academy is deeply rooted in tradition, as evidenced by how grand and solemn our convocations are…records, photographs and documents are very important….so that we have something to pass on to future generations, something that they can build on.
Third, as I was browsing through the ADI website, I read that ADI is and “International Honor Society for Dentists promoting social responsibility of the dental profession” – sharing knowledge, serving people. For this, we will make use of innovation, with the help of our younger Fellows, to use our expertise in teaching, not only to share knowledge to our colleagues and students, but also to the general public. We will use the internet and more modern means of reaching out to people and educate them about oral health.
Fourth, the Board and I will see to it that every quarterly meeting is worth attending. We have six new Active Members, who will be presenting their papers/lectures, one for each Board Meeting… but apart from that, we will be inviting very knowledgeable resource speakers to talk on very interesting and relevant topics. YOU WERE ALL CHOSEN BECAUSE YOU ARE THE BEST, YOU DESERVE NOTHING LESS THAN THE BEST. With this, the Board and I are batting for a 100% attendance every quarterly meeting. The movie Field of Dreams has this very famous line, “If you build it, they will come.” We will build good quarterly meetings, so that you will come.
As you can see, we are anchored on history and tradition as we make use of innovations to move forward. I quote from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, “Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.”
These may look like grandiose plans, but with everyone’s help, we can turn these visions into reality. I am imploring each one of you to help us with these projects. We are all giants in our own right, together we might just make this organization a TITAN.
How ironic of me to be talking about giants and titans when I don’t even measure 5 feet tall.
Lastly, I thank with all sincerity, the organizing committee of this first ever, virtual convocation of our Academy. My husband, my hatchet man, immediate past president Armin Segarra who tirelessly sent you countless messages, I can imagine you just wanted to turn off your mobile phones, but tenacity and being relentless is one way to get things done; our Marshall and protocol officer, Fellow Ida Viloria, who made sure everything is in order and kept us on our toes, she is ably assisted by Fellow Phides Pangilinan-Alcorta; Fellow Raffy Borromeo, our tech man, where would be without you; Life Fellow Ermelinda Galang, you are the constant light that guides us and keeps us on track; Fellow Chico Damatac, your presence is so comforting; Fellow Cristy Laureta who endured the countless dry runs and run throughs so that we can make this event seamless; Fellow Elaine del Rosario, who came so prepared for the run through she was in business attire; Fellow Margaret Tiu, for working very hard on the presentation of the Active Members and new Fellows; and of course, our Secretary, Fellow Rochelle Javier, who was the one who prepared our pre-Biennial Webinar with Dr. Queena Lee. I thank and congratulate the Active Members and new Fellows in whom we see a long future of the Academy.
LONG LIVE ADI-RP Section.