Busy Time for the Chamber

The coming weeks will be very busy for the Chamber. By next newsletter after this, three major things would already have happened: the 5th Annual Golf Tournament, the nominations and official candidates' selection for the Election of SBFCC Officers, and the Annual Blood Drive.

Golf Tournament

This year's SBFCC Golf Tournament will be held on October 16 at the Mimosa Golf & Country Club in Clark Field, Pampanga. Tickets and sponsorship packages are now available from the Chamber office.

The Subic Bay International Terminal Corp (SBITC), a company who was very supportive during last month's Botolan disaster relief operations, represented by Reimond Silvestre, is a Golden Eagle Sponsor in this tournament. Overgaard Subic Inc, headed by Ross Bendix, is a Major Sponsor. Other companies that showed intention to sponsor are Bank of Commerce, Grain Pro, SBDMC, Subic Bay Garden Villas, Subic Gas, and Asian Tigers Lane Moving and Storage. We are waiting confirmation from a few more and would like to take this opportunity for others to support this annual event.

In the tradition of our past fund-raising activities, the proceeds of the tournament will be used for the Chamber's various programs aimed towards enhancing the quality of the business development in Subic Bay, as well as to fund socio-economic programs and initiatives.

Nominations and Candidates Selection for the SBFCC Officers Election

The nomination process for the elections has already started and will end by October 9. The official candidates selection would start on October 12 and will end on October 23. There is currently a good number of nominations and as of this writing, those who accepted the nominations include Reimond Silvestre of SBITC, Eloy Bermudes of Subic Drydock, Johnson Yang of Grand Pillar, and current officers who are re-running: Rose Baldeo of Global Terminals, Sung Il Cho of Subic Bay Christian Worship, Lawrence Lusung of the Bank of Commerce, and yours truly.

If you are interested in getting value for your investment in the Chamber, please participate either as a candidate and/or as a voter. Although the Chamber officers are basically unpaid volunteers, you should choose only those who will do something for you and the Freeport.

Annual Blood Drive

Blood cannot be manufactured by even the most advance and richest countries - it is a gift that can only come from a fellow human being, whatever his or her stature in life may be.

The Chamber has been doing blood drives for several years now. The previous years saw many volunteers from all walks of life donate precious blood that eventually went to the Red Cross. This year's Blood Drive will be held by the first week of November. Ocean Adventure and Camayan Resort will be providing free tickets to every blood donor.

Not everyone can save a life, but with your blood donation, you have the opportunity to.

More

Apart from the above-mentioned major events, a lot more are in our plate including the pursuit of positive outcome on the Chamber's position regarding the Certificate of Ownership of Leasehold Rights, follow-up on our position regarding the SBMA's new Housing Policy, the Memorandum of Understanding with the Greater Subic Bay Tourism Bureau where we are a partner in the upcoming Tourism Congress this November, the National Convention of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce where we are a member, the MOU with the Philippine Retirement Authority which we hoped would have been already signed but got side-tracked a bit, continuous updating of the new Chamber Forum website, participation in the upcoming Water Summit which will tackle the problems surrounding our bay, and a bunch of other things that will carry on to the existing and new Chamber officers who are going to be voted in.

Yes, these are busy times for your Chamber, but we can only be successful with your support. The more we are and the more support we get, the more we can do; the busier we are, the more we can achieve.