Our Story

The story behind The Rotary Club Dela Paz Marcos High began way back in 2013 when a thought was planted in the mind of its founder, M. Oliver “OD” Darvin by RC Pasig West Charter President Prudencio “Den” Somera one evening, while they were in the second half of their term as Peacebuilder Presidents (OD was the President of RC Pasig Sunrise and entering his 3rd year in Rotary). Den advised OD that one of the more significant accomplishments that a Rotarian can aspire for is to organize and build a Rotary Club, and he felt that OD had the organizational and leadership capabilities to do this.

In late 2014, OD thought the ever-worsening Metro Manila traffic made it more difficult and inconvenient to drive from his office at the Semicon Building in Marcos Highway, Dela Paz, Pasig to Valle Verde Country Club in Oranbo, Pasig for the weekly Thursday meetings of RC Pasig Sunrise. He wished aloud to his business partner, office mate and fellow Sunriser PP Alex Sotto, that if it were only possible, he would have their club meetings right in their building (or near it). Alex agreed and they mulled the idea of organizing a new Rotary Club in their area. They targeted to have the club chartered within the term of then DGE Alfredo “Jun” Abellar, a good friend and supporter of both.

The work of planning and organizing the new club did not yet take traction in 2015, since both OD and Alex were preoccupied with their business, aside from the fact that they continued to be very active with the activities of RC Pasig Sunrise and the district.  OD was nominated as an officer of the District Training Committee and was already involved in the various training activities for the Presidents-Elect for RY 2015-2016.  However, the commitment to DG Jun Abellar and District Trainer, Peacebuilder DG Lirio Sandoval to organize the new club remained.

It was at the beginning of the year 2016, that the active work of organizing the new Rotary Club began. Since Alex had by then been nominated as District Secretary for RY 2017-18, he had to beg off from the active participation in building the club.  He however agreed to actively support the project behind the scenes.  OD nominated him to be the New Club Adviser (formerly called DGSR or District Governor Special Representative), which was accepted by DG Jun Abellar.

Since the presumptive area of the new Rotary Club would be along the north boundary of Pasig City, bordering Marikina, Cainta and Antipolo, OD invited 2 fellow Rotarians he sponsored with RC Pasig Sunrise, living nearer to the area to transfer to the new club.  Of the 2, it was Rotarian Dr. Jon-Erik Villamater who joined him.  In selecting who to invite to be the Charter Members of the Club, OD gave careful thought to the predominant parameters, which would ultimately influence the new club’s culture – uniqueness, diversity, creativity, integrity and youth.

In the evening of Wednesday, April 13, 2020, the very first meeting of the presumptive Rotary Club was held at La Escuela Restaurant, along Sumulong Highway.  Joining OD in that meeting were Dr. Jon-Erik Villamater, Eric S. Lopez, Arlene G. Mendoza, Hiro S. Tamashiro, Leah T. Villalon, spouses Mikollo Garcia and Gigi Garcia and Arthur Baysa who all became Charter Members.  It was also decided to call the club, “The Rotary Club of Marcos High”, with headquarters at the Semicon Building at Marcos Highway, Barangay Dela Paz in Pasig City.

The group also elected their presumptive officers, with OD as President, Jon-Erik as Vice-President, Eric as President-Elect, Leah as Treasurer and Arlene as Auditor.

Weekly meetings in the tradition of Rotary began from thereon.  The agreed venue would be at the scenic Grilla/Old Spaghetti House Restaurant at Sumulong Highway and overlooking the entire Metro Manila.  There were high attendance meetings and there were low ones, with just 2 or 3 attending.  The process of Rotarization takes time and habituation.  It was tedious and challenging.  And as the weeks went by, the process of recruitment was commenced in order to reach the minimum 20 members required by Rotary International for charter strength.