Everyday’s A Holiday!

By Federico M. Nadela, Jr. DMD,MS

This is the appropriate  slogan for the venue of the 8th APO General Meeting, the Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club on Hamilo Coast, Batangas.  April 17 was a warm, beautiful day for the out of town meeting of APO. Upon arrival, the exclusive and  first class facilities speaks for itself as to why  it was chosen as the venue. Some attendees brought their facilities to  combine the meeting with a vacation outing.

A total of 42 members, mostly in casual beach wear, came for the meeting. Registration started at 11 am followed by a sumptuous and delicious buffet lunch. The program was emceed by Dr. Christie Laureta which began with the national anthem and invocation. Dr. Obet Tan spoke on APO matters and commented on the good attendance of the meeting. He gladly welcomed some “resurrected” members, appropriate as Easter Sunday had just been celebrated. Dr. Bobby Eustaquio, speaking in behalf of PBO mentioned a CHED resolution that for purposes of undergraduate dental faculty credentials, recognizes the status of an APO Fellow as equivalent to a Masters degree and an APO Diplomate to a PhD. Dr. Laarni Serraon, as Chair of the 8th Biennial APO Congress  reported on the progress of the preparations for the convention and mentioned that so far, she has 26 APO pre-registrants, 4 non-APO registrants and 2 foreign registrants from Germany.  

Dr. Linda Galang, who had invited our guest speaker, did the introduction. Ms. Paraluman B. Abustan, an educator and communicator from the Ateneo gave us an inspiring lecture on: “The Character-Based Orthodontic Practice: Straightening the Teeth, Straightening the Ways of Life”.  Ms. Abustan considers it her mission  to build the character of Filipino professionals, educators, businessmen and entrepreneurs. She believes success and happiness are the fruits of good character. She started the presentation with lively dance number led by Dr. Christie Laureta to the tune of” Let’s Get Down” to enliven the audience.  She started her presentation with the mantra, “Thoughts become Words, Words become Actions, Actions become Habits, Habits become Character and Character becomes Destiny”. She quoted two thought provoking phrases,  Heraclitus’ : “ A man’s character is his fate” and Cicero’s: “Within the character of the citizen lies the welfare of a Nation.” She advocates “The Goodness Revolution: Be good and do good for the common good.”  She explained the applications of this advocacy on the orthodontic profession in particular and the Philippine nation in general.  Targetting a character based orthodontic practice will lead to more happiness and success and brings about peaceful relationships as well.

Ms. Abustan emphasized the 4 types of personality based on Hippocates, The Powerful, Choleric type symbolized by the Red color; The Perfect, Melancholic by Blue;  The Popular, Sanguine by Yellow and the Peaceful, Phlegmatic by Green. She expounded on the characteristics of each of these four types as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Identifying the type of temperament of people around you including your family members and patients will help you understand them better, allows us to work with them more effectively and improves our relationships with them. She ended with her belief that the best way to improve our character was to modify our natural inclinations. We can live a healthier lifestyle by watching what we take in; the type of food as well as the amounts.

An open forum followed with an interesting question posed by Dr. Christiei Laureta,  “Is it possible to have a ‘rainbow’ personality type.” Ms Abustan answered “ yes, it is possible but that requires making an effort to acquire the strengths of each type, and overcoming the weaknesses. Even a strength in excess can become a weakness”. The awarding of plaque of appreciation followed and snacks were served. WE HAD A TRULY GREAT APO SUMMER VACATION!