RAFI 50th Anniversary Celebration: Reins Handed Over to Younger Aboitizes

In a symbolic turnover, their elders entrusted to the fifth generation Aboitizes last November 16 the reins of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) during the foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration.

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 “The Foundation Called Ramon Aboitiz” book and the “RAFI @ 50” coffee table book to signify the handing over of the responsibility of steering the foundation in the next 50 years to them.

Speaking on behalf of the others of 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 to ensure “that the spirit of the founders remain alive in all of us.”

Speaking about the books, RAFI Vice President John 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.”

The books 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, John 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 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 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.