Kalinga Vice Governor Jocel C. Baac in a meaningful ceremony inducted the officers of the United Cordillera Students’ Cultural Organization Inc. (USCO) held on September 23, 2007 at the Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao Mini-Gymnasium, Balzain, Tuguegarao City of Cagayan.
Inducted during the event are the following Chapter Presidents: Charles O. Banag as CCT-UCSCO President, Ceasar M. Apil as USLT-UCSCO President, Ben Fawas F.L. Vargas-UCSCO President, Froilan C. Malaga as CSU-UCSCO President and Melodio B. Bayongan Jr. as the President of the Centralized-UCSCO.
Inducted as advisers on the other hand were: SI-3 Norman Revita, SI-3 Filomeno P. Visaya, Jr., Hon. Raymond Joaquin S. Magsaysay, PO1 Din B. Sibaro and Engr. Vincent Talattag, with Miss Cynthia O. Banag as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Mr. Gary Arnel Damian as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The UCSCO’s objective as an organization is a geared towards the promotion and the preservation the cultural and indigenous heritage of the Cordillera people especially among the youth. It is a private non-stock and non-profit corporation organized under the corporate code of the Philippines and duly recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Organization was conceived from the vision and perseverance of the members and officers of the four member-schools that founded the corporation, namely, the University of St. Louis Chapter, the Cagayan State University Chapter, the Florencio L. Vargas Chapter and the Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao Chapter. The UCSCO as of this date is composed of 1480 members from Kalinga, Apayao and other Cordillera provinces.
During the event Vice Governor Baac delivered the following message:
“I cancelled all my other appointments just to be with you today because I would not like to miss the opportunity to feel that wonderful sense of belonging that I used to feel when I was also in college. This occasion also reminds me of that feeling of almost perfect satisfaction that used to assail me.
As I go on, I would like to congratulate you all. I am inspired to see you all, and from this day onward, may we contribute to the development of our communities. May we work together. May we follow the late President John F. Kennedy of the United States of America when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.”
We cannot leave the fate of the next generation to chance. So we must provide the foundation of the future.
The tasks ahead are so difficult. But there are many things to be done. There are many things to be finished. But everything starts in our hearts, minds and spirits. So may we have the strength to do the task at hand, courage to meet the challenges ahead and the wisdom to always take the path of democratic governance.
To all of you, my congratulations. With the oath you have taken, serving the studentry is not an easy task. But it is one of the greatest things one can do. Being the head of the group, you are compelled to perform the duties and responsibilities, which as campus leaders may tackle in order for you cater to your roles within your institution. You are now given the privilege to exercise your responsibility granted by the studentry. As such, you have to work hard. It entails sacrifice-the willingness to postpone personal gratification in favor of the common good. It requires a sense of urgency to finish what must be done, the ingenuity to find the best way of doing things and courage to try new ideas and the diligence to make them work.
You have taken your oath so that there is already a responsibility. This word is just a simple one, but behind it, it means a lot. It is a reality that when one’s responsible calls, it is a must for you to comply. Being responsible is one of the most valuable traits in which one may possess. It covers the totality of all attitudes man may ever have. As students, it is your responsibility to perform well your duties and obligations.
We need not be great men doing great things to contribute to the building of our nation. We are called upon in life to be all geniuses or to be all leaders. Life merely summons us to be good in what we do, to make our better best and our best even better. For a good society is not built by leaders and geniuses alone.
To paraphrase a writer, “good society is built not by extra-ordinary men doing extraordinary things but by ordinary people doing ordinary things extraordinary well.”
Lastly, may we have the strength to do the task at hand, courage to meet the challenges ahead and the wisdom to always take the path of democratic governance.
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