Descendants of Don Ramon Aboitiz and their families gather together during the 50th anniversary of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. They are (from left) Juan Aboitiz, Señora Francisca Aboitiz, Roberto Aboitiz, Amaya Aboitiz-Fansler, Jon Ramon Aboitiz, Ma. Del Rosario Aboitiz, Ma. Cristina Aboitiz, Sofia Isabel Aboitiz, Veronique Aboitiz, Eduardo Alfred Aboitiz, Quint Fansler, Juan Miguel Delgado, Carlos Ramon Aboitiz and Ana Maria Delgado. At right, Amaya Aboitiz-Kansler and Juan Aboitiz (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO).
The Aboitiz elders entrusted the reins of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) to the fifth generation of young Aboitizes during the foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration last November 16.
Led by RAFI president Roberto Aboitiz and accompanied by his mother Señora Francisca Aboitiz, the fourth-generation Aboitizes handed to the younger Aboitizes the new book titled “The Foundation Called Ramon Aboitiz” and the “RAFI @ 50” coffee table book to signal the turnover of responsibility over the foundation in the next 50 years.
Speaking on behalf of the others from her generation, RAFI Board of Trustees member Amaya Aboitiz-Fansler said that to be part of the continuing legacy of her great-grandfather Don Ramon Aboitiz and grandfather Don Eduardo Aboitiz was “both duty and gift.”
She assured they would continue doing the works of the foundation and ensure “that the spirit of the founders remain alive in all of us.”
Speaking about the books, RAFI Vice President Jon Ramon Aboitiz said they “show how we in the family worked hard to keep the commitments made by my grandfather Don Ramon Aboitiz and my father Don Eddie Aboitiz.”
Juan Aboitiz (left) receive the books “The Foundation Called Ramon Aboitiz” and the “RAFI @ 50” as a symbolic gesture of the fourth generation Aboitizes handing over the reins of the foundation to the fifth generation (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO).
The books, respectively written by Dr. Resil Mojares and Lorna Tirol, are also their gesture of “thanking the individuals and organizational partners” who were “with us in this journey and what it took to where we are today.”
The books, Jon Ramon said, was their “way of ushering in the fifth generation of the Ramon Aboitiz family who have committed to do their part to bring RAFI to more fruitful years.”
Meanwhile, as part of the celebration, RAFI recognized the Cebu Provincial government and the University of San Carlos (USC) as its “Most Enduring Partners” in “elevating lives.”
RAFI’s partnership with the Cebu province started from the time of Gov. Francisco Remotigue in 1966. The collaboration continued through the years and involved various programs, among them disaster response, school and Gabaldon building rehabilitation, and the Mega Cebu project. One important partnership is the “Our Cebu” scorecard, which measures the performance and governance of local government units in the province.
USC, on the other hand, joined RAFI in a lot of projects through its various departments, particularly the Cebuano Studies Center; Water Resources Center; the departments of Anthropology, Sociology, and History; and the School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design (formerly the Center for Architecture and Fine Arts or CAFA). In its early years, RAFI also gave scholarships to USC’s Department of Education.