Highlight of the Event : Reading of the Introduction of an Upcoming Book on Friendship.

On the evening of October 10, Wednesday, Universitas celebrated Friendship Day 2018. The event was an occasion to gather friends together, meet the friends of friends, and to celebrate the beauty and joy of friendship. True to its purpose, friendship was in the air of the entire evening.

Aside from the food prepared by the Foundation, friends voluntarily brought in food and drinks.  Even those who were not able to come, like Mark, Rolly and Adrian, sent some food and drinks.  It turned out to be a potluck of sorts, with food shared among friends. Sharing, indeed, is one of the signs of friendship.  Sharing food is just one aspect of it–a mere reflection of a deeper type of sharing: the common life among friends.

It was also remarkable that the Universitas office was fully packed with guests despite the horrible Metro Manila traffic and the apparently untimely schedule of the event as it happened right in the middle of the workweek. Truly, friendship cannot be hindered by sheer inconvenience.

The event was informal. There was no official program. However, since some of the guests were new to Universitas, the officers took the opportunity to explain, in brief, the vision, mission, and goals of the Foundation. While the CEO, Atty. Oliver Tuazon, covered much of the presentation, the Chief Legal Officer, Atty. Kyle Bollozos, talked about the different types of association with Universitas, the Project Development Officer, Mr. Bino Socrates, talked about the Fellows Program, and lastly, the Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Dardecs Villanueva, explained the different ways in which people could support the foundation financially.

The highlight of the event was the reading of the Introduction of Oliver Tuazon’s upcoming book, “What the World Needs Now.” Each guest received a copy of the introduction, while Mr. Marco Pantaleon and Mr. Ramon Cabrera led the reading. As was suited to the event, the book was precisely about friendship, more specifically, love of friendship.

Interestingly, Friendship Day was on the same day as the CEO’s birthday.  The idea of declaring October 10 as Friendship Day came up when his friends surprised him on his birthday last year and made a poster where everyone signed calling it “Friendship Day” because they know that friendship is one of Oliver’s favorite topics.  Upon the incorporation of Universitas, the Executive Committee thought of declaring October 10 officially as Friendship Day.

Good thing, a lawyer-friend, Angela came to bring a birthday cake, which capped the event’s celebration with the singing of a birthday song, with Oliver’s birthday wish caught on video! Angela’s dad, who is Oliver’s namesake and friend, brought in the more senior guests, who joyfully exchanged pleasantries with everyone, showing that friendship knows no age boundaries.

Most of the attendees were people who got in touch with Universitas in the past ten years of its existence prior to its official incorporation this year.  New people also came, like the legal staff of the law firm in the Ortigas business district where Oliver works as an Associate lawyer.  Penny and Paul, who have their own law firm, also brought in the younger lawyers in their firm. 

Other officers of Universitas also brought new friends, and so the place was literally spilling out with an exuberance of laughter and joy, of making new friendships and strengthening old ones. It was an indeed an evening of stories, of catching up, and of meeting new people, of expanding the circle of friends of Universitas. 

See you on Friendship Day 2019.  That’s on October 10, Thursday. Save the date! 

NOTA BENE: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and the speakers mentioned in the article, and not necessarily to the Foundation.