Consummatum est

The UPMASA 2024 Winter Board of Governors’ Meeting concluded just now and I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you who participated with every effort you have in fulfilling our common duties to our beloved organization.

In order of appreciation, the first one goes to our President, Henry Echiverri, who provided us hope of good news with the positive result of our last quarter’s quest for reconsideration of the Department of Health’s  Administrative Order 2022 pertaining to the non-issuance of the “Need to Train Certificate” for our J1 visa aspirants. News from abroad came stating that the order was put on hold by the President of the Philippines, allowing medical graduates to continue pursuing a US training. At this meeting, our president championed to have UPMASA respond to three requests from the UPCM and PGH pertaining to the funding of the Surgical Skills Simulation Laboratory, renovation of the PGH Interns and Residents’ on-call rooms, and the completion of the previously pledged funding for the Dean’s Wellness and Resiliency Program.

Secondly, I thank and congratulate President-Elect and Strategic Planning Committee Chair Cecile Pasion-Bregman and her diligent committee members who presented a very scholarly and promisinglong term strategic plan for the next 5-7 years focusing on ways to improve UPMASA’s  membership, financial sustainability, and operational infrastructure. Having these impressive recommendations voted successfully in its totality, we still look forward to the three postponed motions of Dr. Cabellon which dissected these recommendations with emphasis on implementation. The discussions were extensive yet still needed more understanding for the entire board to be led by the Executive Committee, together with the Strategic Committee, and other designated committees which will specifically be responsible for each action plan. These motions are anticipated to continue for discussion come April 20, 2024, at our Spring BOG Meeting in Buffalo, NY, hosted by the Western New York Chapter.

We were happy to hear from the Treasurer’s Report of Glenn Batiller that our investment accounts increased by 15 percent as the stock and bond markets made a remarkable comeback in 2023 from the dismal 2022 performance. Our total current assets – National Treasury, PEF and Centennial Funds all went up.

The topics we went over this quarter were initially conceived to be simpler than previous meetings yet we had several issues that were dealt in length. Besides the Strategic Planning Committee recommendations, we thoroughly reviewed the 2024 Financial Budget presented by Finance Committee Chair Joel Lucena, who was very straightforward yet considerate to make some adjustments and revisions to accommodate the Visiting Teachers Program budget that ended up to an acceptable 12K allocation for this year. Thanks to the rallying points and  insightful comments of Postgraduate Education And Faculty Development Committee Chair Vic Malabonga. The budget was subsequently voted on and was accepted. The Constitution and Bylaws Committee was able to put forth its first of two proposals namely, the inclusion of the Vision and Mission Statements prepared by the Strategic Planning Committee during the previous quarter and now has been accepted to be at the helm of our Constitution and Bylaws. The second proposal regarding the minimum number of the Internet Service Committee membership had to be postponed by the CBL Committee for presentation pending additional fine tuning on the verbiage of the said amendment but then should be ready at the Spring BOG Meeting.

The rest of the committee reports were very informative and engaging. The chapter reports showcased a variety of activities and exciting happenings and truly demonstrated the vibrance of the chapters comprising a progressive and ever growing UPMASA. Salamat sa inyong lahat!

Kudos to the ladies and gentlemen of our TAG Team Coordinators: Corresponding Secretary Connie Cipriaso who was always kind to run after everyone’s reports, efficiently prepared and formatted them and assisted our very able Webmaster, ISC chair Henry Ty, who excellently juggled his neurosurgeries with queries and troubleshooting of our forum during this entire four days of online meeting; Lilian Tocyap-Aquino, whose detailed records of our meeting continued to surpass every recording secretary’s best account of the specifics of the meeting. I wait in excitement to hear her quick tally of votes; Assistant BOG Chair Mike De Leon, who always provided me with solid suggestions and recommendations when the flow of discussion stalled at some instances;  Ness Liwanag, our Administrative Assistant, our fastest communicator, nudging her assigned BOG members whenever information or responses are needed sooner; and lastly, to Bong Yogore, our Parliamentarian and most able PEF chair, thank you for your vital clarifications on the matter of the Strategic Planning committee motions! Salamat to these wonderful co-workers!

Let us look forward to the succeeding days of enjoying the fruits of this quarter’s labor while Letty and I set forth to the Philippines as we join our fellow UPMASAns in Tarlac, Tarlac for this year’s UPMASA Medical Mission.

Padayon!

Winston C. Umali, MD

BOG Chair, 2023-2025