Fiesta Committee execs face criticisms on land sale

By Alice Gregorio-Nicolas 

Concerned Members of the Philippine Fiesta of Victoria, Inc (PFVI), a recently-formed group composed of current members of PFVI, former members of the Management Committee and friends/supporters, has questioned the sale of part of the Laverton property.

Starting from 20 members, the group has doubled in numbers in recent weeks. Some of the group’s key personalities include Billy Velasco, Maina Walkley, Noel Tolentino, Vic Icasiano, Elmer Ragel, Ernie Altarejos, Fred Jover, Jopen Quintero, Connie San Jose, Edgar Lagrito, Philip Salanguit, Gerry Ocampo, Zen Geronimo, Bing Jaraba, Tony Lugo, Donarto Lawas, Sony Muli, Rick Vargas, Bobby Cano, Des Villanueva, Tony and Nenet Manalansan, Nestor Pineda, Rufino “Nonong” Torres, and Hugo “Boy” Espenida.

The $1.1M sale of the 2,685 sqm of the Laverton property came unexpected to Eddie Atacador, one of the pioneers of the Philippine Fiesta. “Personally, the property has a sentimental value to me. It was purchased in 1995 under my administration. That is why when it was sold, I was shocked. I felt that I should be notified, that the membership should be notified. We did not have that kind of notification or anything. We were given a notice of meeting but there was no indication that the property was for sale or was already sold. So a concerned group of members rallied together to call for a meeting. We had meetings, around 20 of us at first then we agreed to write a letter to the Management Committee,” Atacador told The Philippine Times.

Formal request for action
In a letter dated 23 April 2012, the new group addressed Ross Manuel and his Management Committee “to be completely transparent and accountable to the general membership.” Issues raised were:

1. Sale of part of the Laverton Property in January 2012 without members’ proper consultation.
2. The 1 April 2012 Agenda of the Annual General Meeting notice did not give notice of the intended sale of part of the Laverton property.
3. No specific details such as approved feasibility study, project plan, reasons for proposed sale, and cost benefit analyses on proceeds of the sale of the Laverton property.
4. Financial Report to show financial position of PFVI.

The group also wants to see documents of the mortgage loan and bank statements from January 2003 to April 2012, when the ANZ loan was settled, to indicate if there were any taxes, duties, levies, debts, financial obligations or income from 2003 to present, independent and externally audited PFVI Financial Statements from 2003 to present, and list of all current PFVI Members.