The Rotary Club of Manila Centennial Awards Nationwide Contest for Most Outstanding Service Projects was organized in the framework of the 100th Founding Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Manila (RCM), the first in Asia. It aimed to give a major opportunity for Rotary clubs in the Philippines to showcase their service projects. It is also intended to encourage more Rotary clubs and/or Rotarians to initiate, plan, execute or implement service projects which will benefit their communities, especially the neediest in our country.
The Centennial Awards Committee was organized in late October 2018 by Centennial President Jesus “Susing” Pineda, Jr. and Alexander Cureg. Joining the committee as co-chairman was Rtn. Michael John Cutter, and as members were RCM Directors Issam Eldebs and Albert Alday; RCM Secretary Alvin Lacambacal; and Rtns. Karl Leung, Bernardo Benedicto III, Jun Alvarez, Jujut Enriquez, Art Dela Cruz, and AT Jason Ong. The Committee was assisted by Atty. Anna Cureg and the RCM Secretariat headed by Anna Kun Toledo.
RCM, being the organizer of this search, recused itself from joining the contest to avoid any appearance of partiality or prejudice.
After meetings and deliberations, the Committee sent out invitations to the 10 Rotary districts of the Philippines, through their respective District Governors, to submit entries to the contest. Among the basic rules of the contest are: Rotary districts can submit a maximum of three service projects undertaken by their Rotary clubs; each service project must have a huge impact to the community; it was encouraged that the projects cover any or several of the six Areas of Focus of Rotary; that the projects were planned, organized and executed primarily by Rotarians though they can work with partners-in-service; that the service projects must be sustainable.
In four months, 28 entries were received by the Centennial Awards Committee who proceeded to evaluate and narrow them down to the top 10 most outstanding service projects. These were then forwarded to a panel of judges composed of Ruel Maranan, president of Ayala Corporation Foundation, Inc.; Antonio Meloto, founder of Gawad Kalinga Community Development, Inc.; and Olivia Ferry, past president of Zonta International. Chairing the panel was US Ambassador to the Philippines His Excellency Sung Kim. Additional criteria for judging included impact to the community; longevity or sustainability; creativity in sourcing out funds; and impact on the environment. The selection of the winners was done both quantitatively and qualitatively.
On 16 May 2019, the following service projects were adjudged as winners:
First Place
“Rotary Homes” (Saving the Waterways, Saving Lives, Giving Hope)
Rotary clubs of Makati, Paranaque St. Andrews, and Paranaque East
This project received a cash prize of Php200,000.00.
Second Place
“Gift of Life”
Rotary Club of Makati West
This project received a cash prize of P100,000.00.
Third Place
“Water is Life” (Providing Clean Water to Eight Schools and Two Barangays)
Rotary Club of Meycauayan Uptown
The project received a cash prize of P75,000.00.
Fourth Place
“Touch the Artist’s Vision” (Let the Blind See)
Rotary Club of San Juan Del Monte
This project received a cash prize of P50,000.00
This story was published in the September 2019 issue of the Philippine Rotary magazine.
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