Our Honorable Hernan Reyes, past President and founder of SPSA, Officers, Advisers, Fellow members and Guests.

First of all my thanks to everyone who considered me as a viable nominee for SPSA presidency. It is an honor and a privilege to be your president. When Rey Castillo asked me to consider this position I didn’t know it would be his last request to me. Along with Ben, Enrico, Ferdie and others, thanks for your words of encouragement.

At first I was somewhat unsure whether I could lead such a talented group of individuals. Individuals, whose goals was to improve the well being of the Filipinos, improve and update the expertise of its members, foster good relations with its colleagues across the pond and maintain social camaraderie.
But then I thought, these individuals are quite self-motivated, selfless in its endeavor to help others even to the point of lacking in funds or affordability to schedule the projects it yearns as a society. I am proud and so should we all be proud to belong to a humanitarian Society, to people who put others first, to people who are tireless, indefatigable in assisting and conducting its affairs as a Society.

Yes, we have a history of checking, counter-checking and balancing our actions being careful not to misrepresent each other and as we are guided by its principles. In our every little move I wondered what makes us so like or similar minded that way? Is it that little brown pigment that some of us try to erase every morning, is it those little islands separate yet trying to get closer in ties because we all know where we are coming from? Or, is it that remark that we were the cause of the so called “brain drain” as we left our Motherland to further our studies, a remark so ingrained in our minds that we were determined to prove them wrong? Or is it that DNA that makes us yearn that we may finally have a place in the sun?

Well, whatever it is or a combination of any of these reasons, we trusted our fate as people in this foreign nation to bind and forge the principles of our forefathers toward a common goal of “giving back!”

In this tough, tumultuous and unsure times we are given the task to answer that same age old question: who can we and do we trust ? Can we trust anyone out there? It seems in all corners of society, agencies of government, pillars of business and community fail to earn or continue to earn that trust deservingly. What’s wrong with this picture? Is it because we stop putting others as priority before self or is it that when we serve others we eventually think of ourselves in the process?

I know our organization can be trusted to look at a situation squarely in the eye and give an honest opinion because it will serve the majority rather than a few. It is when the majority of us is in the wrong side of the curve that we fail to give the ultimate benefit to others. Life is a process of folding and unfolding what God has promised (I came that you might live life more abundantly) Let us therefore bring to the table what we are most willing to share (our level best) until we reach that final “aha” moment.

In the words of Covey’s Life purpose we find that in life, we learn, we learn so much that we learn how to live, and along the way we learn how to love, and when we love, we learn to leave a legacy. When we love, we leave little footprints of us in a space of time.

Thank you and May God Bless each and everyone of us as we continue to give ourselves and leave a lasting legacy!