The 28 th National Biennial General Assembly of Alpha Phi Omega International (Philippines) Inc. will be held for the first time in Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental, May 21-24.

It will be hosted by the APO Negros Oriental Alumni Association, headed by Arnulfo Dans, the Gamma Chapter in Silliman University, and petitioning chapter from the Negros Oriental State University.

The 28 th NBGA will be held at the Lamberto Macias Sports and Cultural Center, where 5,000 to 7,000 delegates, from 1,319 Philippine collegiate chapters and 290 alumni associations in the country and overseas, are expected to attend.

APO national executive vice president Roel Fernandez said Vice President Jejomar Binay, a member of the fraternity will be the guest speaker.

The APO leadership said their support for Binay is not as an organization, being apolitical, but as individual brothers and sisters. Fernandez said the fraternity is not even part of the core group of the presidential bid of Binay.

Overall chairperson of the 28 th NBGA is Ernie Tabasuares, who said their loyalty as APO members belongs to the group, not to a certain person.

In December 2013, the local chapter won the bid to host the assembly, with endorsements from Gov. Roel Degamo, Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria, the congressmen, and Silliman University president Ben Malayang III.

Sagarbarria said the event will be another economic boost for the city and the province, with more than 7,000 guests and visitors bringing in money to be spent locally. Delegates will come from APO brothers in America, Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe.

The security aspect is taken care of by the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, headed by Senior Supt. Mariano Natuel Jr., and the Dumaguete City police, led by Supt. James Goforth.

Medical and dental missions will also be held in Zamboanguita on May 20 and May 22, at the Perdices Memorial Coliseum, by the Epsilon chapter of APO based in Manila, and another at the Don Bosco gym. The Silliman University, where the Gamma chapter was organized in October 1953 as the first organization of APO outside of Manila and the third in the Philippines, is also extending assistance to the group.

Fernandez said APO is the only fraternity that has adopted provisions of Republic Act 8049, or the Anti-Hazing Law, since 1994. Fraternity leaders were called to a general membership convention, and they came up with a recruitment process that do away with hazing in the campus.*JG

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