F.C. DANTE GAPULTOS, JR. M.D. Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, May 22, 2008

To our Reverend Rector Magnificus, Fr. Rolando de la Rosa,
Dean Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, Dr Grace Garayblas-Gonzaga,
Regent FMS, Fr. Winston Cabading.
To my Fellow Thomasian Medical Alumni, Jubilarians, Classmates & Guests.

We are a very large extended family. We are united by a family bond. The “Mother” of this family is our Alma Mater; the “Father” our Alumni Association. You my fellow Alumni, are my beloved brothers and sisters. Our dear mother, our Alma Mater, has united us through our educational journey and continues to nourish us through our alumni ties.

We have been recently blessed by a visit from the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Nothing can eclipse the magnitude of His Holiness’ trip to the United States. Just as we revere the Holy Father and all that he symbolizes, so too do we hold our Mothers in a position of high esteem. Our Alma Mater, the University of Santo Tomas, has mothered us as we gained the knowledge that prepared us for our profession. We must try to make this “Mother” proud and continue on the path she has trained us to follow.

I have asked many of you my brothers and sisters to join me in returning back a portion of our personal prosperity to our “Mother”, the University of Santo Tomas, particularly the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and its Hospitals by generously donating time, talent, and treasure to USTMAAA and its financial institution, the Foundation. This in turn allows us to serve our fellow countrymen and schoolmates who are in need.

In my inaugural speech as President of USTMAAA at Wynn Hotel, 4th of July, 2007, I mentioned that it was lonely at the top. I realized after all that it is NOT! Not with the company of my wife, Margie, my son, Glenn; Joe and Stella Evangelista, Primo and Sylvia Andres, Oni & Zita Yorro, Toni & Auring Gonzales, Greg & Melinda Tolentino, Noel and Alice Canlas, Lourdes Cacanindin, and Baby Jaleco. To them, my deepest gratitude for their leadership at its purest form. To my dear friends and classmates, so many that I cannot mention with the 5 minutes time allotted to me. To them, my heartfelt admiration for their immense kindness and enormous generosity.

It has been an honor and a privilege for me to serve as your President of the largest and the most successful Philippine medical alumni organization in America, USTMAAA. Let me, as one of my last acts in this position, plead for unity among us. I beseech the estranged “children” of our family to COME HOME. Likewise, I beg that those disavowed “children” be WELCOMED HOME! My dream for our Alma Mater, the University of Santo Tomas is that it along with all Alumni past, present, and future embrace and exist as one heart. God bless and Thank You for letting me serve our “Mother”.