FCT controversy: The $678K Question — Why has it taken 3 years with no resolution in sight?

FCT controversy: The $678K Question — Why has it taken 3 years with no resolution in sight?

(Photo: HG)

By Hermie Garcia
The Philippine Reporter

TORONTO — In the last few weeks the Filipino community in Toronto has witnessed what is labeled “a media blitz campaign” about a Filipino community centre’s alleged questionable handling of its finances.

From the initial investigation of The Philippine Reporter, what appears is a picture where some members and former officers of the 20-year old centre started to question in 2017 significant amounts of “payables” while the leadership of the centre has treated the issues as already “dealt with”. The questioning group, however, has not relented its efforts to get answers to their queries and consider their issues unresolved.

A recent development though has emerged where the centre’s board has offered last week to meet with the petitioners to respond to their “request” for an independent financial audit. But the protesting group has imposed certain conditions to accept the offer.

But first, what are the specifics of the controversy?

At least three Filipino Canadian newspapers in Toronto published recently an open letter-petition of Concerned Members of the Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) asking for an independent financial audit of the community centre for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Also published recently is a highly critical article detailing the group’s questions directed at the FCT Board of Directors for, among other things, an explanation of “payables retroactive to 10 years” amounting to a total of $678,000 broken down as follows:

“Vicki $300,000

RCJ $96,000

Felino $122,000

CRA $122,000

Wendy $30,000

S and J Mechanicals $8,000”

Maria CJ de Villa
Spokesperson, Concerned Members of FCT

These payables were shown in a Powerpoint presentation at the FCT Annual General Meeting of Sept. 7, 2017. A relevant information is the fact in January of the same year, FCT sold its office building on Parliament St. in Toronto for $5.9 million.

Apparently the general membership was not aware of these specific payables being mentioned or discussed in official meetings before that AGM. And the petitioners claimed that in the “draft” financial statements for 2017 and 2018, there was no mention of those payables.

In their March 31, 2019 letter to the FCT board, the petitioners asked:

Are these payables valid under Section 4 – Remuneration and Reimbursement, Article VII Funds and Finances of the FCT Bylaws, which states ‘Members and Officers of the Directors, Officers of the Executive Council, and members of the Filipino-Canadian Centre shall receive no remuneration from the organization for acting as such. They shall be reimbursed of reasonable expenses (s) incurred in the performance of duties.’

A response of the FCT officers, according to the petitioners, was that the officers and members of FCT cannot receive “remuneration from the organization for acting as such” but they can as providers of services outside of their FCT affiliation.

Other questions the group pressed for answers are:

Why were the members informed of the payables after the building was sold months before? What were these big amounts being paid for? Were these expenses supported by documents?

In the October 2018 AGM, a motion was passed for a “Third Party Independent Auditor to do a complete and objective evaluation of the accounting records, governance, and financial reporting,” according to the latest open letter of the petitioners. Until now, they said, this motion has not been acted upon.

In an article written by Maria CJ de Villa, the spokesperson of the group, she enumerated 17 questions but the main demand is still for an independent financial audit of the three years mentioned.

Mary Ann San Juan, President and CEO, FCT

FCT replies

The Philippine Reporter sought an interview with FCT President Mary Ann San Juan last Sept. 18. San Juan replied and said that she would refer the request to the FCT board. After two weeks, she wrote back. To avoid any misquotation, her full reply dated Oct. 3, 2020 is quoted in italics below:

Thank you for your email requesting for a reply regarding the open letter-petition of the “concerned members of FCT”

The Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) solidly believes in transparency, honesty,  fairness and commitment to its decisions and operations for the past twenty years in the Filipino community.

The Board has reached out to the “concerned members” inviting their representatives to a 1-hour meeting with the FCT Board of Directors to respond to their request for an independent audit. The Board reminded the “concerned” that at the Annual General Meeting of October 2, 2019, Dr.Nenette de Villa, the AGM moderator, and representatives from the SRCO Professional Accountants invited interested members to make an appointment with the FCT Directors to have the financial records available for review.

To date, no one has responded to the invitation.

The issues that the “concerned members” raised in their open letter were dealt with at the Special Meeting of  June 6, 2019 and at the AGM  of October 2, 2019.

The Board of Directors requested Corazon de Villa for  a complete and up to date list of the “concerned members”.

I am sorry but I cannot give you an interview, and neither of the Directors can, on issues that were already dealt with. I appreciate your informing me of publicizing the “concerned members” petition.

Sincerely,
Mary Ann San Juan
Filipino Centre Toronto

(End of quotation)

At the FCT door, the sign says: “Notice: This meeting is for FCT members only, non-member are not allowed. Thank You” This was on the June 6, 2019 meeting dubbed “Special General Meeting” called to “inform members” of the sale of the old building and the purchase of the new one, the petition of the “concerned members,” the disbursements to directors and members, board resolutions on the disbursements, and the unaudited 2016 and 2017 financial statements. According to some members who attended, none of these were taken up. Instead, they sat through a long presentation of the history of FCT and an interpretation of its Constitution and by-laws to allow salary and benefits for individual officers and members. Meeting rules included no media, no camera, no recording allowed, no handouts. No minutes to be published. Written questions after the presentation, one per member. Representatives of four Filipino community newspapers arrived but they were not allowed to attend or observe, including the author of this article.

There are two important points in San Juan’s reply.

1. The FCT Board has reached out and invited the representatives of the petitioners’ group to a one-hour meeting with the board for the latter to respond to the “request” for an independent audit. She also said that she had reminded the group that as early as the Oct. 2, 2018 AGM, interested members were invited to make an appointment with the FCT directors “to have the financial records available for review.” “To date [Oct. 3, 2020], no one has responded to the invitation.”

2. The issues raised by the “concerned members” in their open letter were already “dealt with” at the “Special Meeting of  June 6, 2019 and at the AGM  of October 2, 2019.”

Furthermore, she and the directors can’t give an interview on issues “already dealt with”.

The Philippine Reporter sought the reaction of the petitioners to San Juan’s reply by submitting questions for them to answer. Here’s a summary of their reply:

They are only open to meet with the FCT board “if the agenda is on the Open Letter terms per the approved motion for the 3rd Party Independent Audit.”

They “prefer a virtual meeting via Zoom that we will host with 5 BOD representatives and 5 Concerned Members representatives.”

They require “a media rep chosen by each team as observers”.

They said that June 6, 2019 meeting did not address the $678,000 payables and all their petition questions.

They noted that in the Oct. 2, 2019 AGM, there was no 2016 financial statement presented. The 2017 and 2018 financial statements presented had a “DRAFT” watermark in all the pages. The $678,000 payables and all their petition and payables were not addressed.

They emphasized that their demand for an independent financial audit is not “a request” but a follow up to the motion passed in the Oct. 2018 AGM that an audit be conducted by an independent third party.

Asked for the underlying reason for their insistence for an independent audit rather than accept an offer for a meeting with the FCT board that may start a dialogue process, their reply: “Proceed with the approved motion to conduct a Third Party Independent Audit. It will objectively provide answers to outstanding questions, clear the way for audited financial statements for 2016, 2017 and 2018, and identify need for better accounting processes and controls, transparency and governance policies going forward.”
(The petitioners said that the quotes be attributed to Maria CJ de Villa, their spokesperson.)

My final question: “Are you open for a meeting or dialogue with the FCT board in lieu of or before an independent financial audit is addressed?”
Reply: “No, we do not see any point of a dialogue. We are following on the results of the 3rd Party Independent Audit. The financial audit has been outstanding for two years now resulting into the unavailability of the audited 2016, 2017, and 2018 Financial Statements. How long is the FCT Board willing to put the organization in limbo?”

In an initial virtual meeting with the core group of the petitioners, The Philippine Reporter team had a free question and answer Zoom virtual session with the following: Maria  CJ De Villa, Malou Parcero, Luna Vince, Noel Cruz, Bay and Daisy Bernabe.

In this session, the group members emphasized that their primary objective is to build the FCT so it can continue to serve the community and only with transparency and good governance can it effectively do so. In this regard, they stressed that they are after the truth about the financial affairs of the centre and whether the payables under question are justified.

Who are the protagonists?

Asked for the names of the signatories to their open letter-petition, the group gave the following names:

Dec. 20, 2018 open letter:
1. Maria CJ De Villa
2. Ed Birondo
3. Evelyn Birondo
4. Elisa Pardinas
5. Frank Villanueva
6. Cecile Kolmegies
7. Bobby Gabat
8. Bernie Carreon
9. Rey Tolentino
10. Luna Vince
11. Teresa Sevilla
12. Malou Parcero
13. Bay Bernabe
14. Daisy Bernabe
15. Noel Cruz
16. Toots Evidente

March 31, 2019 open letter:
1. Dr. Mario Andres
2. Perla Andres
3. Bay Bernabe
4. Daisy Bernabe
5. Ed Birondo
6. Evelyn Birondo
7. Bernie Carreon
8. Noel Cruz
9. Maria CJ De Villa
10. Rob Fuerte
11. Bobby Gabat
12. Cecile Kolmegies
13. Frank Maralag
14. Rudy Naval
15. Myra Naval
16. Malou Parcero
17. Elisa Pardinas
18. Teresa Sevilla
19. Rey Tolentino
20. Mercedes Tolentino
21. Frank Villanueva
22. Luna Vince

Following are the board members and officers of FCT for 2020-2023:
Efren de Villa
Chair of the Board
Mary Ann San Juan
President and CEO
Theresa Lumanlan
Vice President
Judith Gonzales
Secretary
Wendy Arena
Treasurer
Directors:
Alvine Marasigan Flor
Corazon Laraya Cuotas
Frank Cruzet
Jerome Peralta
Lolit Tablang
Mercy Maliglig
Mel Galleon
Nenette de Villa
Nitz Rejdik
Philip Beloso
Priscilla Tumulak
Steffie Stephens
Victoria Santiago

At this point, there is no certainty whether the two sides of the controversy will agree to start a dialogue to discuss their differences or they will further dig in with their stated positions. Will the issues go away after more months and years of non-resolution? Will the community continue to remain unaffected and seemingly apathetic to the issues raised?