Pinoy Org Abroad

When I was new here in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi veteran told me to refrain from joining Filipino Organizations. I took the older guy’s advice at heart and never joined any group. Last year, I met a fellow Ilonggo (Let’s call him Mr. Popular) who was at that time running for the post of Board of Directors in a Regional organization (in Eastern Province). Mr. Popular pleaded several times before I relented to his request that I sign for membership. The Org membership is the only way I could cast my vote for Mr. Popular. Mr. Popular won by a very large margin and he was voted number two out of the 12 Board of Directorial seat.

According to the by laws of the Org, the 12 BOD are automatically in contention for the Presidential and other posts. The Mr. Popular who was popular amongst the Org members turned out to be unpopular to the old dogs. He ended up not winning any position at all since nobody nominated during the BOD election. The whole group was against Mr. Popular because he’s young and idealistic.

When Mr. Popular was accused by somebody who’s an adopted member of the Org (Let’s call him Mr. Singing Bee), the whole group turned their back on Mr. Popular. The group pressured Mr. Popular into admitting guilt without a due process. Mr. Popular stood his ground and was never affected by the pressure. They blindly believe what Mr. Singing Bee told them without hearing Mr. Popular’s side of the story. In the end Mr. Popular realized that the Org is not worth it. He finally resigned as the member of the BOD. He was thankful that he learned early on that he really doesn’t need popularity and recognition. He finished his contract, exited the kingdom and resumed his banking career in the Philippines. Mr. Singing Bee on the other hand, who was so arrogant, was terminated from his job.

Mr. Popular was promising but the old dogs in the Org are threatened by him. He’s fresh and he symbolizes change. I still believe that regardless of what the people do to you, they can never really bring you down unless you allow them to. Mr. Popular was smart enough not to be affected. He knows that he’s stronger that what others think.