From the Grand East

Dear Brethren:

This is the last edition of the Cable Tow under my term, and I presume this will be circulated long after we have relinquished our former positions to the newly elected Grand Lodge leadership team, led by MW Rolen C. Paulino. So please don’t be surprised if you find my name still bearing the Grand Master’s title in this issue.

I will also presume that we have successfully executed the 104th ANCOM. The COVID situation makes things so volatile. We were ready to hold the convention in Olongapo City as planned a long time ago, but changing circumstances forced us to cancel the venue at the last minute. But we have put in place adequate ad hoc procedures to make online convention possible. This is something we have not done before so there will be marked departures from the usual physical ANCOM procedures.

But for good measure, we have decided to postpone the election of the Junior Grand Warden as there are certain issues on online voting platform which prevent us from fully attesting to a 100% credibility of the system. This will open up a number of proposed adjustments to our rules but please

bear in mind that these are mere interim measures to remedy the disruptions caused by the pandemic and there is no intention at all to replace our long-standing procedures for good. The 104th ANCOM must be held one way or the other, and all delegates to this convention must discharge their last and final duties, in the same dedicated manner that they have shown for the past two consecutive terms.

At this point, the virus continues to disrupt our regular business and if ever things change for the better in the near future, we foresee a pivot to a “new normal” which will usher in a new and permanent set of prescribed conduct and attitude among all people, including certain adjustments Freemasonry has to make to conform to a new regime of safer human interaction.

We have begun by infusing modern digital technology into our systems as featured in our previous Cable Tow edition. And the Cable Tow team has responded superbly amidst our present difficulties. We might as well call them the Virus-Impervious Editorial Staff because when just about everyone has to stop, duck, and cower in fear of COVID19, they bravely labored on, pounded their keyboards, and produced timely, meaty, and highly informative articles about what’s happening in the jurisdiction. They kept everyone abreast of the state of affairs of our Masonry as they happen, by making the Cable Tow available online. And they did not confine themselves in their traditional publishing role. Thinking outside the box, they collaborated to produce the techie app wonders we now conveniently use such as the TCTreader and Digital Compilations leading to the GLProceedings and the GLadkit. When important GLP events need to be aired, they took charge of streaming them online, enabling the brethren to be virtually present in these affairs. Truly, I cannot ask for a better team.

My last parting instruction to them is to find ways to produce special paper prints of the various volumes released during the term. We need to keep some traditions alive, and

I wish to see printed volumes of the COVID19 editions lining our shelves.

And I appeal to the brethren for help in producing them by making special voluntary subscriptions at a minimal cost, the details of which will be announced by the Editorial Staff shortly.

Kudos to the finest technological and editorial team led by Grand

Scribe VW J. Harold Santiago, whom I had the good fortune and pleasure to have worked with.

And farewell my dear brethren, although I return to your ranks once more.

Grand Lodge of the Philippines,

City of Manila March 30, 2021

AGAPITO S. SUAN, JR. Grand Master