The recent Hapag \/Gawad Kalinga production created controversy and left the community confused as to how many GK organizations there are. Numerous attempts were made to contact the organizer\/producer, Ms. Josie Musa for clarification. A text message was received from Ms. Musa on 22 December at 10.15am saying \u201cU can col me now f u can.\u201d The return phone call was made and upon query, Ms. Musa eluded to the fact that she was a part of Gawad Kalinga. \u201cHindi ako kasali sa kanila,\u201d she said. When further queried why the proceeds were directed to her name, Ms. Musa replied \u201cYon ba, ang tinatanong mo?\u201d Ms. Musa did not deny or confirm but instead begged off the conversation \u201candito ang boss ko, saka na tayo mag-usap.\u201d No other calls or messages were received from Ms. Musa and all other attempts to contact her since have proven futile. <\/p>\n
Gawad Kalinga Ancop Australia (GKAA) has issued an official statement denouncing their connection to the recently staged play \u201cHapag.\u201d The statement was released by Mr. Marcy Mission, CEO of GKAA.<\/p>\n
One final attempt was made prior to press time on 29 December to clarify the issue with GK headquarters, Manila. CEO, Mr. Luis Oqui\u00f1ena confirmed having given Ms. Musa verbal approval to conduct a GK event. \u201cMs Josie Musa asked permission from Tito Tony (Meloto) to hold an event for GK. We gave her our approval given certain audit conditions.\u201d <\/p>\n
The production of the play \u201cHapag \u2013 Little Children of God\u201d was staged last 20 December 2010 at Bowman Hall and a large \u2018GK777\u2019 sign was visible below the stage on the night. The production was advertised as a Physical Theatre Production directed by Albert Dimarucut and featured most of the juniors and some of the seniors from the cast of the Rizal production. At the organizing and production helm was Ms. Josie Musa. Initial promotional materials released around 4 November stated that it was a GK Young Ambassador project and it carried the Gawad Kalinga logo which gave the semblance that it was indeed sanctioned by the GK people. <\/p>\n
The play was based on Joey Velasco\u2019s painting, \u201cHapag ng Pag-Asa\u201d and book \u201cThey Have Jesus in Them\u201d which features 12 poverty-stricken children in a \u201cLast Supper\u201d scene. Mr. Velasco who passed away in July of this year, allowed Tony Meloto the use of the painting in 2006 for Gawad Kalinga\u2019s promotional purposes. However, the extent of the copyright is unclear. According to Ms. Musa copyright was obtained \u201cfrom his (Velasco) relatives in Manila\u201d and \u201chis Auntie was present on the night.\u201d However, when queried as to whether she had a written permission from Velasco\u2019s estate in the Philippines, she replied \u201ctinawagan namin yung mga kamag-anak niya.\u201d <\/p>\n
In this regard, Mr. Oqui\u00f1ena states \u201cRegarding proprietary issues that you raised with Hapag, GK Philippines has no authority to either deny or approve the use of Mr. Joey Velasco’s work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obtaining a copy of the solicitation letter proved to be difficult as requests fell on deaf ears. One source even said that solicitation was being done by word of mouth only, which would be so unprofessional. After a few attempts, a copy was obtained but it only raised more questions. <\/p>\n
To date, GKAA is the only known Gawad Kalinga organization here in Australia and has been in existence for the last seven years. It is a registered charity (organization) and as such all donations are tax deductible and all accounts are duly audited. All correspondence to and from Manila, and all donations from all sources and partners have been coursed through GKAA in the past. However, the Hapag solicitation letter released as early as 4 November was not on an official GKAA letterhead nor did it include the details of the organization. Furthermore, it clearly stated \u201cMake cheques payable to Josie Musa, and her private address. There were no ABN numbers, no fund raising permit numbers which would further mean no insurance and tax liability. Initial phone calls to the GK people here in Australia, revealed that that they were not even aware of the said production. Subsequent phone calls were made to the GK people and CEO, Mr. Marcy Mission, and their response was a definite \u201cNO, we are not involved!\u201d Another GK source advised that they had tried to speak to Ms. Musa and they have tried to ask her to fill in the event form, a mandatory document which needs to be completed by those wanting to fund-raise. Ms. Musa declined and alleged to have had approval from Manila. When questioned at a later date, Ms. Musa replied \u201cI am not a member of their group. I work for Gawad Kalinga Manila.\u201d<\/p>\n
The venue, Bowman Hall was booked with Blacktown City Council prior to 4 November, under Gawad Kalinga Ancop Australia. GKAA enjoys subsidized venue fees as per agreement with the Council. But since the GKAA people were not involved in the production, and Ms. Musa admits not to be a part of it, why then was the venue booked under the GKAA name? Mr. Marcy Mission of GKAA has since advised Blacktown City Council of their non-involvement in the production.<\/p>\n
Checks were also made with Alpha Phi Omega Australia (APO) to confirm their involvement in the project. The Young Ambassador project was originally an Alpha Phi Omega Australia (APO) Project which was started in 2007 and repeated in 2008 as part of APO\u2019s memorandum of understanding with Gawad Kalinga to build an APO village in the Philippines. For the first two years, Ms. Musa participated in both events and for her efforts, it was agreed that a percentage of the proceeds would be donated to the Pe\u00f1afrancia group. However, the cheque was issued under Ms. Musa\u2019s name as requested which she would then forward to the Pe\u00f1afrancia group. <\/p>\n
In 2009, the GK Young Ambassador Project was again conducted but this time without the knowledge and involvement of APO. APO confirms that Ms. Musa also has no connection with APO Australia except for being the wife of an APO member, Mr. Musa, who is no longer the assignated GK coordinator nor is he the President of APO Australia. <\/p>\n
From the proceeds of the Young Ambassador events, APO Australia donated to Gawad Kalinga $9,000 in 2007; and $1,630 in 2008. In 2009, APO donated $2,300 which was raised through the City to Surf event; and in 2010, a $10,000 donation was made to Gawad Kalinga from the City to Surf 2010 fund-raiser and from individual member donations. In all, approximately $35,000 was donated. <\/p>\n
The question then is \u2013 were the funds raised from last year\u2019s Young Ambassador event remitted to GK here in Australia or to the Philippines or to APO Australia? Mr. Mission of GKAA, APO Australia and GK Philippines have denied receiving any remittance from last year\u2019s Young Ambassador\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
On querying Mr. Luis Oqui\u00f1ena, CEO of GK Philippines via long distance on 12 December, re Ms. Musa\u2019s authority to conduct the Hapag event, he replied \u201cI don\u2019t know nga kung bakit nagkakagulo yung dalawang grupo.\u201d Clarification was requested as to which groups he meant and his reply was \u201cI will be going to Australia in January to fix the problem between the two groups.\u201d However, to date, there is only one authorized group \u2013 that of Marcy Mission. <\/p>\n
On speaking with the Philippine GK area coordinator for Australia a week later, Miss Thess Luge said \u201cI thought that was for APO Australia.\u201d Ms. Luge further confirms that Ms. Musa visited GK headquarters during her last Philippine trip and visited the GK APO Village at Sucat Para\u00f1aque. She donated 10,000 php for the children of the village and 20,000 php for \u2018Bagong Silang GK Village\u2019. Total amount was approximately $666.00 depending on the conversion rate. Aside from this, no other donation was remitted on an individual capacity. <\/p>\n
GKAA claims that Ms. Musa was formerly a partner, although not a part of the management committee. Ms. Musa however denies to have ever been a member \u201chindi ako member nila….never!\u201d It has also been learned that Ms. Musa has since registered Gawad Kalinga Australia Inc. with the Department of Fair Trading on 24 November, after the venue booking was made under the GKAA name and after the promotional materials had been released with the GK logo. <\/p>\n
As per Mr. Oqui\u00f1ena\u2019s response on 29 December, he further states: \u201cAs I shared with you over the phone, I am scheduled to visit Sydney this January. I will personally sort things out as the work of GK evolves in Australia. I can only answer your questions after my trip this January. I want to make a personal assessment of the situation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Investigations also revealed that there are plans to hold a GK summit in Australia in 2011 and establish a new GK group in Australia. However, until such time re-structuring is implemented if at all it is required, and the community is properly advised, there remains one GK group in Australia, the Gawad Kalinga Ancop Australia aka GKAA or GK Ancop. <\/p>\n
(Editor\u2019s Note: We called Ms Josie Musa several times to give her a chance to respond to this article. As of press time, she has not returned our call.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The recent Hapag \/Gawad Kalinga production created controversy and left the community confused as to how many GK organizations there are. Numerous attempts were made to contact the organizer\/producer, Ms. Josie Musa for clarification. A text message was received from Ms. Musa on 22 December at 10.15am saying \u201cU can col me now f u […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,49,53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}