FCT headaches not over yet

FCT headaches not over yet

TORONTO–Notwithstanding the landslide victory of the group led by Linda Javier and Dr. Victoria Santiago in the board elections of the Filipino Centre Toronto held Feb. 4, 2007, developments after the election point to more battles ahead.

To start with, the camp that calls itself Save the FCT Movement, led by Dr. Francisco Portugal and Frank Aquino, filed four resolutions during the Annual General Meeting on Feb. 5, 2007, the day after the elections and before the results were announced late that night.

The four resolutions were accepted by court-appointed election administrator Larry Bannack as filed during the AGM and will be submitted to the newly elected FCT board.

The resolutions, signed by at least ten members each, will be taken up by the board . The resolutions want the following:

1. The new board to form a special committee “to determine the appropriate penalties” regarding the court findings that several directors were “guilty of violating the Constitution” of the FCT.

2. The new board to form a special committee to investigate the allegations of irregularities in the audit report of Julito Longkines for 2003 and 2005; that the findings of this committee be presented to the membership not later than April 30, 2007; that copies of the Longkines report be distributed to the membership;

3. That any member of good standing be allowed to attend any and all board meetings;

4. The board to authorize “the release of all closing documents and two sided copies of cheque/s issued by Felino Javier that was deposited to the FCT Trust Account held by the Offices of Evan Kenly Solicitor.” (This is intended to clear the issue of whether Javier loaned money to FCT in the amount of $9,820.)
Another issue that remains unresolved is the amount of the mortgage on the building owned by FCT on Parliament St.

During the AGM, a member asked how much was the mortgage on the building. FCT president Linda Javier replied that the first mortgage was with the CIBC bank in the amount of $600,000 and that there was a second mortgage with an amount that was not specified.

The holder of the second mortgage was also not specified by Javier or any board member.

According to Dr. Portugal, a title search with the Ontario Land Registry Office # 66 showed that the amount on the mortgage of the same property with CIBC is $1,020,000 and there was no outstanding second mortgage.

There is, however, an effort to start a reconciliation process coming from the camp of the Save the FCT Movement. In an open letter to the members, Frank Aquino, a spokes-person of the group, said “Let us start the process of reconciliation and rebuilding. Let us direct our attention to the future. We learn from our mistakes and we become more mature in the process but we should not make mistakes all the time… Let us work together for a better FCT.”

Dr. Portugal, for his part, released the following statement: “The recently held election and annual general meeting was a milestone for the Filipino Center and its members. It is an achievement attained at a great cost but it was necessary to set the FCT on a right course. We accept the decision of the members and the mandate they gave to the newly elected board of directors. We have brought forward four member resolutions for the new board for consideration and proper action. We are confident that we can all confront the issues before us in a spirit of cooperation and commitment to transparency and accountability.”

A Philippine Reporter request for a statement or interview with leaders of the new board remains unanswered as of press time.