The draft of 2003 Audit Report

The draft of 2003 Audit Report

FCT Update
By Aida E. D’Orazio

The publication by a Filipino newspaper, The Philippine Reporter, of FCT auditor Julito Longkines’ draft of 2003 Audit Report, which still had to be discussed, resolved and approved by the FCT Board, has caused the Members of the FCT Board to rise up in collective outrage.

As a result, a Board meeting was held – called by its Chairman, Dr. Vicky Santiago – and Julito was asked to explain. He emphatically denied sending it to the newspaper or to any media. He had e-mailed it to all the Board Members, including those who recently resigned but whose names were still in his group’s file. Well, whoever got hold of the draft, took it upon himself/herself to support the smear campaign launched by a group of disgruntled Filipinos, whose reasons, valid or not, are getting personal and vindictive. (Below are Julito’s statement regarding his audit report and the FCT’s financial report for 2003.) (See page 41, – Ed.)

The controversy, which is getting out of hand, is hurting every one. Pity that these things have to happen as the Filipino community is finally enjoying the fruits of its labour after so many years of waiting for a Centre – a Centre that is now fully established and efficiently run.

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Comments from some FCT Board Members…

Mercy Maliglig (after going through a sleepless night and “just wanted to get this off my chest”): The board members of the Filipino Centre Toronto owe the reading public an answer to all the allegations that are thrown at the management through newspaper publications.

We thank Mr. Julito Longkines for an accurate FCT financial report for the year 2003. The board members of the FCT understand how an auditor views things – a dollar is a dollar, not ninety-nine cents or one dollar and one cent. Everything to an auditor has to be mathematically exact. However, the year 2003 was the year we could not afford to pay a bookkeeper. None of us were really sure of what we were doing. We figured out the best way to learn was to do it ourselves and learn by trial and error. We tried to do things the best way we could with the help of everybody from the Board who had a knowledge of running a building. We kept receipts, records and invoices. We thought we were all doing a good job.

Until a real accountant in the person of Mr. Julito Longkines came along, we were doing things the way we knew how. Now upon the appointment of Mr. Longkines, an accounting system is in place. Starting the year 2004, we were sure that if ever there were questions, they would just be minor ones. If Julito found some improprieties in the year 2003, as he claimed, they were not done intentionally. The cheques with only one signature were issued because signing officers could not come in before the cheques had to be issued. They were mostly pay cheques that needed to be issued on time to pay the janitor. There was one cheque worded as “Linda’s expenses” which should have been worded as “Linda’s mileage”. Some cheques were for incidental expenses. One big cheque was issued to the general fund. There should not be any concern about this since paper trail can exactly point to where funds went.

We were hoping for the cooperation of our accountant rather than putting out a report viewed in a very negative light. Questions should have been cleared with the people concerned before going public with it.

Quote for an ordinary basement of a home, 800 to a thousand sq ft, could easily be $25,000 to $35,000. The Ottawa Room and Jose Rizal Hall, if done by a contractor, could easily cost as much as $120,000. To note: the materials used were of A-One quality, from the electricals to wood panellings and the floorings.

We also want to let you know that all these people throwing accusations are the ones who did not lift a finger to lend money to the Centre when money was needed to complete the required down payment for the building.

Wendy Arena: Lynda Javier, our president, has had two quotes done by two contractors for the Rizal Hall, Ottawa Hall and our new Office, Suite 103. One contractor quoted $320,000 (labor and material) and the other contractor quoted $310,000. The Centre is indeed lucky that we have Felino, who was the moving force in the renovation of the Rizal Hall and Suite 103 along with Paul Arena, who volunteered to help install the lights and fixed some of the heating units; Ron Vasquez, who helped with the electrical installations, and the QPAC (Quezon Provincial Association of Canada) volunteers, who knocked down the old walls of what is now the Rizal Hall. The FCT has since been saving a lot of money with the installation of energy efficient lighting system.