(Note: The speech delivered by Dr. Remo Aguilar during the turnover ceremony of twenty free wheelchairs donated by Phi Kappa Mu Fraternity last May 18,2009 in City Hall Grounds Tacurong City)
To our good Mayor Lino Montilla, Vice Mayor Collado, members of the Sangguniang Panglunsod and the entire city hall staff, my fellow working citizens of Tacurong, To our dear differently able wheelchair recipients, ladies and gentlemen, maayong aga sa inyo tanan!
If you strip a man with his vision, he will not be able to SEE where he is going.If a man loses his mind, he lose any capacity to KNOW where his going. But do you know what feels more frustrating than the two human beings above?A human being who CAN SEE where his going, who KNEW where could go, but who could NOT because his two legs wouldn’t allow him to go anywhere AN INCH away from his sick bed!
Phi Kappa Mu, which stands as the most venerable Fraternity of the College of Medicine, is an exclusive fraternity of medical students and physicians based in UP College of Medicine. Founded in 1933 upon the principles of Leadership, Excellence, Service, and Brotherhood, the fraternity has raised some of the most outstanding physicians in the country, including two of the three UP medicine graduates from this city, Jovino Bobot Morte Jr of UP Medicine Class 1978 (who happens to be my parent’s wedding ninong) and yours truly are proud PHIs and Tacurongnon.
In its Diamond Year and as part of a lifetime of service,Phi Kappa Mu will be distributing more than a thousand wheelchairs for free under the Empowerment Through Mobility project.
The objective of this project is to help indigent patient who are disabled and communities with such populations. The top-quality wheelchairs are acquired through a partnership with Free Wheelchair Mission, a worldwide organization whose aim is to restore mobility to those who need it across the globe.In the Philippines, the Phi Kappa Mu is now the conduit for that hope.
With Empowerment through Mobility, the Phi Kappa Mu ,Free Wheelchair Mission and the Social Welfare Department of this City and together with several partners nationwide, will change over 1600 lives including twenty for this city.
By making that first few inches away from the sick bed, these Tacurongnons can work on to improve their lives and become a better, productive citizens of this city.
I want to thank our honorable mayor Montilla, our city administrator Nicolo, our CSWD working staff headed by Madam Fhem, for bringing in the wheelchair to our city and to these deserving recipients.
To the recipients, hopefully your lives will be changed from here on.
Again, thank you and good morning to everyone.
(Some part of this speech where derived from Marc Denver Tiongson’s (Phi SE) by line during the turn over ceremony in Manila)
