34th General Assembly Election and Araw ng Nikkei Jin By: Emiko Escovilla
Last May 10, 2015 the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Inc. held its 35th Araw ng Nikkei Jin at the PNJK-IS Gym with the theme “Achievement of the goals of the association through the concerted and sincere efforts of the members and valuable support from the Japanese Society”. It was a whole-day event where over two hundred Nikkei Jins from different chapters gathered to be apprised of the organization’s progress and achievement over the year 2014, as well as elect new members of the Board of Directors.
The program was jumpstarted with an acknowledgment of the participants and a welcome message. Congratulatory messages from the Director of the Consular Office of Japan in Davao, Hon. Consul Tomoko Dodo; the former President of the Japan-Philippines Volunteer Association, Mr. Masataka Ajiro; the President of the Japan-Philippine Industry Council; and the President of the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Rengokai, Mrs. Ines P. Mallari.
Afterwards, reports from the different institutions under the umbrella of the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai Inc. were given by the competent officers responsible for each department. The reports covered the reading of last year’s minutes, the President’s report, as well as financial reports from the PNJK Inc., PNJK Polyclinic & Diagnostic Center, PNJK-IS Calinan, the Japan-Philippine Industry Council and the PNJK Cooperative.
After the reports, photos were taken with the Second Generation of the Nikkei Jins, who were also given tokens as an appreciation for their attendance. Before breaking to lunch, the elections were conducted.
A plenary session was held in the afternoon to entertain questions from the Nikkei Jins. Intermission numbers were presented as well, and the Nikkei Jins participated in the games prepared by the organizers. A raffle draw was had, and prizes were given to the winning member.
The newly-elected board members were announced and inducted that afternoon. The Board of Directors for the years 2015-2017 are as follows:
Chairman: Ines Mallari Treasurer: Anita P. Iwamoto
President: Ret. Judge Antonina B. Escovilla Auditor: Elizabeth M. Tagud
First Vice President: Rodrigo M. Suemitsu P.I.O: Nelma N. Adachi
Second Vice President: Juseven S. Austero Director: Felipe C. Hiquial, Jr.
Secretary: Carmen C. Apigo Director: Adelaida S. Panaguiton
Asst. Secretary: Noellyne R. Fernandez
SPORTSFEST 2015
PNJK Inc, PNJK IS and MKD Family
The Sportsfest is the most awaited event for us employees. This event is participated in by PNJK Inc., PNJK IS, PNJK Polyclinic and MKD family. Each Team is named after colors. The colors consist of (4) four namely; Blue Team, Red Team, Yellow Team and Green Team. Membership in the team is done by draw lots.
Every year, we have different organizers. This year’s Sportsfest was organized by the PNJK IS family, headed by Mr. Jun Velasco, the Elementary Department Head, with active participation of Mrs. Ruelyn Bobilies, a building and ground Supervisor. The attendance was strictly monitored.
The first day of Sportsfest began with an opening prayer and was formally declared by Mr. Rodrigo Suemitsu, a PNJK Board of Director, with the participants declaring their oath of sportsmanship. Thereafter the Torch Relay was witnessed where each team was represented.
The events on the first day were Banner Raising, Mass Demonstration performed by not less than 25 participants, Modern Dance performed by 5 participants, Singing contest solo and duet, and Parlor Games played by 10 participants. The organizer introduced the new contest, Zumba which was performed by 3 entities PNJK INC, PNJK IS and MKD family.
There were individual games such as scrabble, word factory, dart, chess, table tennis and badminton, all played for men and women. The mind games, scrabble and word factory can be played by both the young and old generations.
There are Group game sports such as Basketball for men and volleyball for women. To replace the slot for Softball, the organizer introduced the new game Basketball for women. It is fun, but to us women the ball game is so tiring and dangerous for injuries.
The sportsfest ended with excitement. Everyone was guessing who will be the Champion. Before the declaration of the winners, a fellowship lunch was held at PNJK IS Gym. It is noticeable that the table cloth of each team matches the shirt of each team. There were intermission numbers rendered by the winners of the singing contest and dance contest. The final declaration of winners were as follows: the overall champion of the Sportsfest is the Red Team, followed by the Green Team , 3rd place the Blue Team and 4th place the Yellow Team.
To the participants who exerted much effort to their team, congratulations. This is one way of developing our capacity on time management. Our sportsfest is for fun and camaraderie; winning is the secondary goal, participating and supporting our team is the main goal.