by Stephen J Pedroza
With his remarkable accomplishments and active community involvement, there is no wonder why the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) named Cadet Lt Col Jan Rogie G Macandili of Xavier University as the “Male ROTC Cadet of the Year.”
President Benigno C Aquino III bestowed the award to Macandili during the recently-concluded 79th founding anniversary celebration of the AFP at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
His formula for reaching this far as an ROTC cadet is no secret anymore. “Do your best in everything you do. I did not aim for this—to get an award … until they have noticed my achievements and involvement in the community,” he says.
“Do your best even in small things because you will never know how big the impact is.”
As Macandili recounted, during the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong in 2011, he was responsible for various activities of the corps in responding to the victims. “[December 17] was supposedly our ROTC day. Those who were not hit by Typhoon Sendong did not know what happened the night before so we reported the next day for our regular routine so we were tapped by Fr Eric Velandria to become the first responders and volunteers.”
His team led the repacking of relief goods for the victims including the delivery of packed food and water supplies to different evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro City in the following days.
Macandili’s participation in responding during the first few days after the 2011 catastrophe has brought him to far places. His experience in relief missions backed his application to be part of the Philippine delegation in the Culture Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) program held in Guam, USA on November 10-15, 2014, which has honed his interpersonal skills and the passion for community service, among other lessons.
After CULP, the Cadet of the Year brought back what he has learned in the program to the communities here in CDO and shared it with fellow ROTC officers.
Balancing academics and community activities
Macandili is not new to military training. He comes from a family with military background being the eldest son of Ltc Robert B Macandili (INF) PA and SJO4 Haidee G Macandili of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP-CDO).
Juggling his academics and extra-curricular endeavors, he says his only key is time management. Macandili is now on his fourth year as a student of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Financial Management.
“I plan to get into military service after my graduation. Hopefully, I can get into the military service as a professor in Finance and apply what I have learned here at XU,” he says, adding that he plans to take up an MBA.
As an Atenean, Macandili has been elected as the student council president of the School of Business and Management. He has led outreach activities with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), participated in house-building activities of the Habitat for Humanity and in the blood-letting activities frontlined by XU Red Cross Youth along with other organizations.
During his summer cadre, Macandili received numerous awards: Outstanding Graduate Award, Best Class Marcher Award, Best Speaker Award, Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) Commanders Award, Field Stripping Award and Marksmanship Rifle Expert Award.
Back-to-back awards
The ROTC program of XU received two top awards for 2014, from being recognized as the “Top ROTC Unit of 2014” and now Macandili as the ROTC Cadet of the Year.
Prior to receiving the highest award for cadets, Macandili was already recognized as the “Cadet of the Year of the Philippine Air Force 2014”during the ARFC’s 35th Founding Anniversary at Clark Air Base in Pampanga on December 1, 2014.
XU president Fr Roberto “Bobby” C Yap SJ expressed his congratulations and gratitude to Macandili, the ROTC corps of XU and their commanders, and to the entire XU-NSTP family for these meritorious achievements.
For cadets who aspire to follow Macandili’s footsteps, his few words of advice are: “Do your best and God will do the rest. Give it your all and be great. It’s the value of magis.”