Last September 29, 2018, the newly-elected Board of Directors organized its 1st General Assembly which also coincided to its annual Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration.

The general assembly was hosted by Sharlene May Cua, Board Director and Secretary of PACS, and Charles de Guzman, Board Director and Head of Membership Committee.

The program started with welcome remarks from Fr. Aristotle Dy, Vice-President of PACS. He warmly welcomed old and new members of PACS who attended the GA. As a welcome treat to all new student members of PACS, Fr. Ari gave a one-year free membership to them.

For his part, Dr. Rommel Banaloi, President of PACS, shared the upcoming seminars & activities of PACS for the year. He also mentioned that the organization received some generous support from various sectors and friends of PACS. He also highlighted that more scholar exchanges are happening between PH and China. Because of this, he would like to devise a way to endorse board members or active members in these academic collaborations between the two countries.

 The following are some of the institutions who were present during the general assembly (in no particular order):

  • Alliance of Filipino Chinese Students

  • Ateneo Celadon

  • UP Manila Cerulean

  • University of the Philippines Scarlet Central

  • University of the Philippines Chinese Student Association

  • Ateneo de Manila University Chinese Studies

  • Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila

  • University of the Philippines Asian Center

  • Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology

  • Mindanao State University – King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian Studies

  • Ateneo de Davao Center for Politics and International Affairs

  • University of the Philippines  Department of Political Science

  • Miriam College

  • Polytechnic University of the Philippines

  • Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc

  • PUBLiCUS Asia, Inc.

  • Chinese Embassy in the Philippines

One notable observation for this year’s general assembly was the presence of some college-based Filipino-Chinese student associations. As a long-term plan, PACS wanted to encourage young Filipino students and academicians to join the organization.

After which, the group played the “Mooncake Festival Dice Game”. The game is known as Bo Bing in China or  Pua Tiong Chiu among the Chinese Filipino community traditionally uses six dices and a bowl.

Various prizes for the winning players are based on the dice combination or results of dice thrown in the bowl. The player who throws the highest winning combination is said to be the ‘Chiong Wan’.

In this year’s dice game, it was a surprise to see 8 ‘Chiong Wan’-takers. However, one winner remains and the cash prize went to Mr. Michael Anthony Ngo from Mindanao State University.

Everyone left the Xavier Board Room, with a smile and brought home prizes and gift sets from Moringa’s latest all-Filipino Malunggay Beauty Products given by Mr. George Siy. The general assembly was truly a success because it gathered representatives from various sectors and camaraderie among PACS members thru the annual dice game.