“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”— Albert Einstein
The Port Manager of the Port Management Office of Misamis Oriental/Cagayan de Oro, Isidro V. Butaslac Jr. shared an inspirational message before the men and women in uniform and non-uniform personnel of the Cagayan de Oro City PNP Office on 16 December 2019, during the latter’s Monday flag-raising ceremony and awarding program.
The City PNP has made it their tradition to invite notable personalities or leaders who are deemed to be champions in their own field to be guest speakers every Monday to give a motivational message to all their personnel to kick-off their week zealously. The PNP Precinct 5 stationed at Barangay Macabalan, near the Port of Cagayan de Oro was the sponsoring unit for Monday’s program. With that, they have invited the CDO Port’s Port Manager himself to be the Guest of Honor.
PM Butaslac was honored as one of the top leaders in Mindanao during the 1st Mindanao Governance and Leadership Excellence Awards in March 2019. His stewardship and earned trust from stakeholders have brought about laudable feats for the Port of Cagayan de Oro and the entire PMO MO/C, such as winning in the prestigious Green Port Award System (GPAS) for the CDO Port; and being recognized by the Development Academy of the Philippines for the PMO MO/C’s best practice of fostering green culture in ports operation and management.
During his inspirational talk, the Port Manager remarked that public service is not an easy job, but to give real service, there must be sincerity and integrity; additional ingredients which cannot be brought by money. He encouraged everyone to continue the good deeds whether big or small, in service for other people, the community, and the country, for they may be rewarded for it, like the police officers who were given recognition earlier in the program for their valor for the recent successful operation against illegal drugs in the City.
“With sincerity, integrity, and vigor, each of us can be great, for as Martin Luther King Jr. had said, ‘Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve’”, PM Butaslac said.
After the program, the Port Manager together with PMO MO/C Station Commander, Port Police Superintendent Bernardo A. Gartalia, met with the City Police officials and shortly discussed security matters and other pertinent agenda. PM Butaslac shared, among others, about the annual simultaneous exercise (SimEx) for various security drills being conducted at the Port of Cagayan de Oro which may be adopted by the City Police in their area of jurisdiction. He explained how the SimEx works and how it would test the readiness of concerned agencies in times of emergencies (e.g hostage-taking, bomb threats, seajacking). Although it has already been participated by PNP-Maritime Group (PNP-MariG) and PNP-Explosives Ordinance Disposal (PNP-EOD), he enjoined the City Police to observe or participate in the next SimEx.—by IMR Lam