ARYA!

Written by: John Raymond H. Fullido 2020 Area Vice President

The batch of Hiraya Presidents, the 2020 Local Organization Presidents of JCI Philippines, is undeniably the most resilient batch. Imagine starting the term with a typhoon, followed by an earthquake, a volcano eruption, a pandemic, and ending it with a super typhoon. In fact, the 2020 Metro Area Conference had to be postponed due to Typhoon Ulysses. The new dates are still deemed untimely for a conference to take place considering the severity of the damage left by the super typhoon. But as an adage in theater goes, the show must go on, and it was the very heart of what the area conference theme was about – “Aryá!”, a beautiful Filipino word which means “bulalas na tumutukoy na ipagpatuloy o ituloy ang isang aksiyon o hakbang; abante; o pagtuloy sa isang balakin.” For whatever the circumstances that JCI members were in, the best thing to do was to carry on, to move forward, and to continue.

The Metro Area Conference is an annual gathering of JCI members from all local organizations in Area 2. This year’s Metro Area Conference was supposed to be hosted by JCI Marilaw. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Area Board took over and decided to host the very first and historic Online Metro Area Conference instead.

The conference started with its Opening Night on November 20, Friday. Leadership Awards were presented to the Area Board, Area Chairpersons, and the 2020 Hiraya Presidents. A keynote message was delivered by their special guest, Mr. Bienvenido Tantoco III (TOYM Foundation Chairman, Rustan’s Group President, and TOYM Honoree for Business in 2004). JCI Philippines National President Mark Joseph David also graced the event as the Guest of Honor. Area Vice-President John Raymond Fullido delivered his Closing Remarks and declared the 2020 Metro Area Conference officially open. The whole program was streamed live to the official Facebook group of the 2020 JCI Philippines Metro Area Conference, where all registered members were added.

On its second day on November 21, the 4th Area Council Meeting was held with AVP John as its Chairman. The first set of Avante Trainings were opened to all JCI members. The speakers were Mr. Robin Rubin for Tarot Card Reading and Mr. Justin Piñon for Sales and Persuasion. The Public Speaking Competition and Debating Championship was hosted by JCI Manila and was streamed through the official Metro Area Conference Facebook Group. In the evening, a short Jeopardy game was hosted to set the mood before the most awaited Golden Titan Awards. Several local organizations in JCI Philippines Area 2 won 38 Golden Titan trophies and 14 Merit Awards. To cap the night off, the Metro Area Grand Fellowship took place with Silent Sanctuary as the special guest band.