Fraternity neophytes render GK work 
By Patricia Esteves
Sunday, December 9, 2007
These neophytes are giving up the paddle for the shovel in order to make it to the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity. As part of their initiation rites, they are building houses in a Gawad Kalinga (GK) village in a far-flung province down South.
Together with Gawad Kalinga, APO has launched the APO Pledge Program that will require applicants to render 40 hours of community work for GK.
“We want to eliminate hazing as a form of initiation. We want to channel youthful energy into GK instead of something else. We want to offer an alternative, that GK can play a major role in the transformation of our frat members,” says Kalinga ng APO national coordinator June Adriatico.
Fraternity culture has for many years been linked to violent frat wars, hazing, binge drinking and general hooliganism. Adriatico says it is high time that they change this.
APO national president Mel Adriano says the global partnership with GK is “precedent-setting, that hopefully we can be a role model for a non-violent organization.”
On Dec. 15, APO and GK will sign a memorandum of understanding with APO committing to provide its army of volunteers to build homes for the poor under the “Kalinga Ng APO” program.
Under the agreement, APO will begin institutionalizing GK into its fraternity like it institutionalized the Boy Scouts when the fraternity started in the ’20s.
“The new pledge program, paddle for shovel exchange, is the beginning of a global partnership in nation building between APO and GK. The paddle exchange signifies APO’s commitment to mobilize its members’ resources and manpower capabilities from 500 nationwide collegiate chapters and global alumni associations to support GK in its GK777 vision of establishing 7,000 communities for 700,000 families in 7 years,” Adriatico says.
Adriatico says adopting the new system of initiation will pose a real challenge to different APO chapters, some of which remain “hardcore.”
“This is a big challenge and we don’t expect this to happen overnight, but we are firm in implementing this,” Adriatico says, adding that there is a reason to be optimistic because other fraternities like UTOPIA are following the same route.
“The partnership with GK is for our fellowmen who need homes. One of GK and APO’s vision is to help our poor fellowmen,” Adriano said.
APO will involve all its collegiate chapters and alumni associations in the Philippines to adopt a specific GK site in their respective areas. It will also institutionalize the spirit of GK and bayanihan in community service and help in the advocacy by continuously promoting the work of GK to other chapters in the Philippines.
Adriano acknowledges that GK needs a lot of manpower for its growing projects and they believe they can help.
“As of now, we have 500 chapters and 200 alumni associations all over the country. We will be able to help in the manpower that GK badly needs,” says Adriatico.
There are other APO members all over Middle East, Qatar and the US. “This is the first time that we are mobilizing our members nationwide to work and volunteer under GK,” said Adriatico.
The fraternity has also completed major projects under Kalinga Ng APO.
APO has built a multi-purpose hall in Malinao, Albay, a project of APO-Qatar and a Health Center in Guinsaogon, site of the landslide in Leyte, funded by ACNA through the National Council. APO-Australia is also building a GK Village in Parañaque.
Another APO Village in Palo, Leyte, spearheaded by the Alpha Omicron Alumni Association, is slated for groundbreaking this month.
Shedding its negative image
Unknown to many, APO is a global service-oriented fraternity that has set the standard for college campus-based volunteerism since 1925.
Adriatico said they hope to go back to what it was years ago, a service fraternity and hope to shed its negative image of a violent fraternity.
APO was one of the feared fraternities in the ’60s and a lot of young people died from hazing. Just last year, another APO neophyte died in UP Baguio from violent hazing.
It was time to make a 360-degree turn, Adriatico says.
“If you come to think of it, APO is really a service fraternity that was started by the founder in Lafayette College, Fr. Franklin Reed Horton in the US,” he says.
Horton’s vision when he formed APO was to do his best to help young people “get the right start in life by holding up before them a standard of manhood that would withstand the test of time.”
Horton said APO can help bring about, through the future statesmen of the world, a standard of manhood and international understanding and friendship that will lead to a better, more peaceful world in which to live and in which to make a living and a life.
The most notable APO members include US President Bill Clinton. On the home front, distinguished APO members include former justice secretary Silvestre Bello III, former education secretary Salvador Britannico, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Philippine National Police deputy general secretary Jess Versoza.
Adriatico says he cannot see why APO can’t go back to the old days, when it was a peaceful and non-violent organization.
“Teaching our members the right values in the spirit of true service is the right thing to do. We are trying to offer GK as an alternative program to initiation,” Adriatico says.
Incidentally, the APO will celebrate its 82nd anniversary on Dec. 16 and will conduct various activities like the Manila Bay cleanup, a GK build, MOU signing and their main event, the groundbreaking of an APO village in Leyte.
APO also has a partnership with the PCSO and will have a special Christmas draw.
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December 13th, 2007 at 6:14 am
Thanks for the heads up brod
December 11th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Brod/Sis,
There are errors in this article which are corrected before being printed in the newspaper itself, unfortunately the web-based version was not corrected. Here are the errors:
1.”Just last year, another APO neophyte died in UP Baguio from violent hazing.”
The hazing case last year was not in Gamma Pi (UP Baguio), Brod June asked The Philippine Star people not to publish anymore the said chapter.
Printed version goes like this: “Just last year, another APO neophyte died in a University from violent hazing.”
2.“If you come to think of it, APO is really a service fraternity that was started by the founder in Lafayette College, Fr. Franklin Reed Horton in the US,” he says.
Our founder is Dr. Frank Reed Horton not Fr. Franklin Reed Horton. =]
in LFS,
Chester – SIGMA