THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH
To our distinguished guests, Dr. Blair Holladay, CEO of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, Justin Hannenberg, President, ASCLS-CA, Mr. Rommel Saceda, National President of PAMET Philippines, PASMETH President, Dean Bernard Ebuen, members of our advisory council, National Executive Board, our Chapter Presidents and Officers, PAMET-USA Members, friends, and dearest family – Magandang Gabi po sa Inyo, good evening!
Wow! I am so overwhelmed to see you all tonight. I was originally expecting a good 50 people attending this convention when we were planning it in January. Very conservative estimate because our friend COVID19 has been loving hanging around and multiplying and generating different variants, I don’t think it has a plan of leaving soon. It put most of us, most our lives into halt. Internal and external confronts were inevitable. These past two years have been really challenging. But, two years ago, who would even think we would do a convention virtually, followed by a Hybrid executive board meeting. Our techies and millennials were put to test. But we did it. We made it happen. Some of us never wavered from providing services to our members, such as continuing education webinars, community services and membership drives. We thrived through these past two years. And although normalcy seems to be within reach, uncertainty is certain.
This led us to the theme for this year’s event, the 34th Founding Anniversary and 18thBiennial National Convention: RISE UP, PAMET-USA! Which stands for Resilience, Integrity, Solidarity, Excellence.
Challenges and threats are constant, that’s why we must be RESILIENT. We should be able to bounce back and react quickly to these ever-changing times.
If things don’t go your way, or changes happening right in front of your eyes, these will challenge your CHARACTER, they will challenge your INTEGRITY. How we make decisions and how we act on them.
Objections and provocations challenge our Solidarity. Friendship and camaraderie are put to tests.
Hardship will test our patience and our focus, and it will make us fail to deliver EXCELLENCE.
That’s why let’s be guided by these principles RESILIENCE, INTEGRITY, SOLIDARITY AND EXCELLENCE as we face these uncertainties ahead of us. The only thing that’s permanent is CHANGE. So, RISE UP! PAMET-USA and get ready for change.
I am excited to work with these vibrant and strong-minded members of the Executive Board. I feel like I’m leading a pack of wolves, team players, hard-working, loyal, and ready to take their place in moving the organization forward. With the help of this team, I hope that we will be able to deliver our commitments to RISE PAMET-USA up to the next level.
As I’ve said during my candidacy in 2020, the following agenda will be the priorities of this team
- Leadership
According to Simon Sinek, Leadership is not just a title; it is a choice to serve others without any formal rank. Totally true. Anybody can be a leader if there is commitment and passion to serve and true concern about the team and whom they serve. Sense of belonging, truthfulness, innovation, and excellence - this kind of leadership will be set forth in the next two years.
First thing to do, review and update the Admin Manual and CBL. Our founders have worked hard in developing this manual and KUDOS to them. But times are changing. We are growing and younger generations are coming in. Just like our SOPs in the laboratory, it needs a thorough review and update to be able to catch up with times.
2.Engagement & membership drive
Although we are excited to opening new chapters, we should not forget the existing chapters that are now struggling with membership. That’s why I will propose the Adopt & Share project wherein chapters can partner, share, and work on a project together that will recreate awareness and drive increase in membership. We will encourage participation of members and visibility within our communities by extending assistance as much as we can.
3. Collaboration and Networking
PAMET-USA is no longer an alien organization in the medical laboratory science profession. For the last 4 years, our organization has been in partnership with highly respected organizations and has collaborated in major events related to the protection and promotion of Medical Laboratory Science profession. We will continue to do this and we will even make our presence stronger by participating in numbers. PAMET-USA is proud to be one of the founders of the Coalition of California Laboratory Organization that was instituted last year, together with CAMLT and ASCL-CA. In November, CCLO will hold its 2nd webinar. We will hear representatives from both National and Local legislators to keep us updated. A forum with the Bureau of Labor Statistics together with CA Laboratory Field Services experts will be an interesting one. Also, there will be a forum with educators wherein our experts like Carlo Ledesma, Ms. Tess Crisostomo, and Ms. Dollie Jacosalem are a part of it. We have been an active collaborative partner with ASCP, too. And one good news is this, PAMET-USA will be working with ASCP on a workforce shortage project before the year ends. Something exciting and something big. Pogi points for PAMET-USA and will satisfy one of our missions that is to act on issues that may affect our profession – the issue on WORKFORCE shortage
4. Advocacy
This partnership with other clinical lab organizations will help our advocacies to be heard. We will continue to support legislative issues related to our profession. We will continue to participate in the legislative symposium headed by ASCLS, and wherein, PAMET-USA is also a collaborative partner. We will listen and act on legislative issues affecting our local chapters by meeting with their local legislators.
We will strengthen our advocacy for our Filipino Kababayans by supporting laws that will expedite immigration of Filipino MedTech’s to the USA. We will expand our partnership with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office.
Philippines, as we all know, is one of the greatest resources for MedTech, because Filipino MedTech’s are licensed, certified, competent, and hardworking. We need them here.
When they get here, we will be their resource while settling in during their first few months. We will offer assistance and let them know PAMETUSA is here to help them. We will do this as a Team.
We will advocate our profession to the younger students to get to know more about us. And we will advocate for Filipino-American Medical Technology Students, too. We will offer scholarships and mentoring programs to qualified Fil-Am Medical Technologists here in the US. Exciting, right. Details will be provided tomorrow.
5. Equal opportunity thru an Electoral Voting system
We need this. We have to do this. We want each chapter, big or small, to be represented equally during National Elections. We want our members to be heard during the National Elections. We, as members deserve this. It is our right. The mechanics for this process will give members of each chapter the opportunity to cast their votes. But it will make someone wins by getting a majority of the electoral votes and not by popularity votes. We will plan on this, we will work on this together as a team.
Now I am all pumped up. I hope you are all, too! I’m so excited I don’t know how to end this, now.
Tomorrow is the start of a new beginning. Let’s greet the new day, with smile on our faces, joy in our hearts and excitement. We have a lot of things to do. This is not a one-man team. We work as a team. I am here because I love my profession, I want to help protecting it and I want to be of service in any way possible to my colleagues, the students, to the communities that we serve, and I see that all possible thru PAMET-USA. What about you? Remember why we are here? If we put our efforts to the mission and vision of PAMET-USA, and avoid personal agendas, we will succeed. Our vision and mission will put us back to track.
On behalf of our chapter, Central California, thank you for trusting us to host this magnificent event. To my dear co-chapters, I am so proud of us, thank you. To the Organizing Committee, to Roger Lariosa and Jonathan Roque of San Diego Chapter, Vee and Art Trinidad of Southern California Chapter, congratulations to a job well done and my deepest appreciation to all your help.
Let’s be resilient, work with integrity, show our solidarity and aim high for excellence! PAMET-USA, Get ready for change. GET READY TO RISE UP!
Thank you and Goodnight!
Rowena Pablico
National President
2022-2024