Mt. Druitt. March 15, 2014. As expected, the Annual General Meeting of the Philippine Community Council of NSW was far from orderly. I attended as a mere observer in pursuit of my media practice but refrained from participating in any discussion. When I arrived, some affiliates were questioning the authority of outgoing treasurer Mildred Banan to withdraw money from the bank.
It was very clear from the PCC constitution that any withdrawal from the bank requires two signatures. Ms. Banan admitted that she wrote a cheque with only her signature. It was in effect a violation of the two signature requirement prescribed by the PCC constitution.
Lawyer Kate Andres, herself a past president of PCC, made an attempt to justify Banan’s action by showing on the blurry projection screen the bank form regarding withdrawal procedures. Andres pointed out that someone failed to tick the box to indicate that 2 signatures were indeed required. Her conclusion was — only one signature was sufficient to make a withdrawal.
Nobody saw the big picture
Unfortunately, there was nobody who saw the big picture — the real issue. PCC was in violation of the rules of OLGR (NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing) in regard to the conduct of charitable fundraising by PCC-NSW.
During the term of outgoing president Elsa Collado, PCC withdrew money from the Philippine Australian Disaster Emergency Relief (PADER) account. Under OLGR rules, money in the PADER account is strictly for charity. But PCC needed $3,000 to make a deposit for the venue of the Philippine National Day Ball in 2013. They had to meet the deadline set by the Australian Turf Club management or lose the privilege to use the venue. But there was no money in their administrative account.
OLGR eventually sent PCC a warning letter for the violation. Total expenses incurred during the PND Ball 2013 was $47,764.00 compared to $38,258.00 spent in 2012.
New PCC NSW president
There were 3 contenders for the position of president: Danny Peralta, Jun Relunia and re-electionist Elsa Collado. Jun Relunia won as president while Danny Peralta won as the new Treasurer. Elsa Collado remains in the board as Immediate Past President. Mildred Banan was elected Internal Auditor. It is interesting to note that she would be auditing her own performance as Treasurer in 2013.
Alric Bulseco was again elected as VP/External. He also ran for the positions of VP/Internal and Director to ensure that he remains in the board.