The
year was 1989...
Twenty
years ago, a group of former
UNILAB employees, namely, CAESAR
CONCINA of Market Research,
NAP ROSARIO of UAP, MERT MANALO
of WESTMONT, RONNIE SANTOS of
BIOMEDIS and PHILIP MANTES of
PEDIATRICA, met one summer weekend
in Scarborough, Ontario.
The
weekend gatherings continued
for several months, until one
day, Caesar informed the group
that there were new former UNILAB
employees in town, in the persons
of JOJO BALITBIT of MYRA, DODIE
AGUILA and GENE BATACLAN, both
from PEDIATRICA. As the group
got bigger, they decided to
form, UNILAB-CANADA in 1989.
The main objectives were, to
promote camaraderie and uplift
every individual's morale. Caesar
was the driving force behind
all these and was responsible
for facilitating and contacting
former UNILAB employees who
were here ahead of them, like
MANOLO BUENAVENTURA, ED GATCHITORENA
and POCH SIMON to mention a
few.
The group celebrated their
1st CHRISTMAS PARTY at Caesar's
place in Alexmuir, Scarborough.
During the celebration, they
unanimously appointed Caesar
Concina as the 1st UNILAB-CANADA
President. Caesar carried out
his responsibilities with remarkable
ethusiasm and commitment. Even
in the absence of modern technology,
(such as the Internet) he was
able to register a good number
of former UNILAB employees to
UNILAB-CANADA.
Amazingly,
as former UNILAB employees come
and go, even without the BAYANIHAN
baskets and bonuses, still they
experience the BAYANIHAN Spirit
among each other, and that spirit
alone makes UNILAB-CANADA a
wonderful group outside UNITED
LABORATORIES Inc.
After
a decade...
As time progresses, the number
of former Unilab employees in
Greater Toronto Area flourished.
During the reign of Raul Rahinel
as the 10th President of Unilab-Canada,
the Unilab-Canada website was
set up, under the stewardship
of Banny Abanilla of Medichem.
A lot of would be (ex-United
Laboratories employees), immigrants
to Canada choose Toronto because
of the information acquired
that are being shared through
the website.
Although not all former Unilab
employees that migrated to Toronto
shared the same vision as majority
of its member do. Unilab-Canada
became a link between the rest
of former Unilab employees'
organizations within North America
and also a group that many can
rely on, in terms of sharing
their concerns & uplifting
their self esteem.
Added to the annual activities,
the annual SportsFest included
bowling, golf and tennis tournaments.
Such activities were shared
not only by its members but
with their families & friends
as well. Camaraderie was the
main focus & objective of
the group; however, many suggested
that we amend our objective
to help our less fortunate co-workers
not only in North America but
also in our homeland, Philippines.
2006
Milestones...
On its
17th year, with the unanimous
approval of the officers and
members, the organization was
officially registered as a non-profit
charity corporation with the
Province of Ontario. Unilab-Canada.org
(as the group's offcial website
is now owned and operated by
United Bayanihan
Assistance
Foundation
of Canada Inc.
(UBAFCI). This
significant milestone gave our
group more flexibility and reach
to legally conduct our business
to achieve our goals and objectives.
Aside
from the regular yearly activities,
2006 also marks the publication
of our weekly online newsletter
that complimented the communication
links between members and friends
of our organization here around
the world.
And
for the first time in its 17
years of existence, Unilab-Canada
humbly extended its assistance
to deserving less fortunate
Filipinos back home through
the ANCOP-Gawad Kalinga (GK-777)
program.
2009
marks our Emerald Jubilee Year
* Celebrating 20 Years of Camaraderie
*
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