The FCCVI is in Crisis
Sadly for the Victorian Filipino community the recent FCCVI election results have been embroiled in controversy with serious allegations made about how it was conducted and ongoing concerns about irregularities in the management of the FCCVI.
The main opposition group headed by Jing Sosa decided to boycott the election and encouraged a number of other candidates to do the same. Since the election Jing Sosa has continued to be vocal in his opposition to the election results including an appearance on Pinoy TV.
Jing Sosa exercised his rights as an existing member (Section 27 and 28 of the current FCCVI constitution) and called for a Committee of Management special meeting held on December 3 2005 to discuss a number of unresolved issues on the elections and other matters of concern.
None of the incumbent officers of the FCCVI was in attendance at this meeting. Some may suspect that they did not feel it was important enough as Romy Binghay communicated in a letter to the meeting that they had a prior engagement.
The meeting passed a number of resolutions including a demand for details of the controversial new members, production of the mortgage discharge for the community owned house in Footscray and the paperwork surrounding a cheque for $12,900.
There was also a calls for People Power (a proposal to picket and lock out the incumbent offices from the Filipino house in Footscray) which thankfully was defeated as it would have had no legal foundation and only resulted in negative publicity for the Filipino community.
Jing Sosa also called on all the representatives to go back to their constituent organisations to ascertain whether they would be prepared to participate in a court challenge to the incumbents and would they contribute funds to it. A quote of $35,000 was obtained from a solicitor to mount such a challenge which our legal sources have suggested is excessive.
Given the incumbents track history in responding to such demands some felt it was pointless continuing to attempt dialog and therefore the meeting did not take action that will produce tangible results.
Another group of concerned FCCVI members have been working to resolve the problems with the FCCVI and focused their attention on the current constitution which is inadequate to deal with the current crisis and also non compliant with some very key aspects of the Associations Incorporation Act of Victoria.
This group of concerned FCCVI member for constitutional reform is single purpose with no political aspirations or agenda. Unfortunately some also in opposition to the incumbents either can not comprehend or do not believe this, and view this group as a in opposition to their own.
The concerned members have identified the current constitution as the major obstacle to fixing the problems with the FCCVI. They have sought a professional legal opinion on the FCCVI constitution and have proposed a timetable calling for the current incumbent FCCVI executive committee to form a drafting committee to draft a fully revised constitution initially based on the model rules as specified in the Associations Incorporation Act and then modified to suit the needs of the Filipino community.
If the current FCCVI executive committee ignore this formal request then the Associations Incorporation Act provides that a single member organisation can then call upon the Magistrates’ Court to make specific orders to resolve the problems. Given that an application to the Magistrates’ Court would request that the FCCVI constitution be redrafted to properly comply with the Associations Incorporation Act the action would most likely be successful in forcing long overdue constitutional reform.
Resolution to FCCVI Crisis
The FCCVI management now have the opportunity to do the right thing and avoid bringing more public embarrassment and shame to the Filipino community in Victoria.
There situation for the FCCVI incumbents is totally untenable and the allegations so serious that really they should offer to resign immediately. In Australia most people in any sort of public office would have done so by now for much lesser reasons. This is expected under the Westminster system which Australia follows.
It seems that most of the participants in the current controversy seem to think that they are still operating under the Filipino system and laws. They will soon learn that this is not the case.
We have received so many e-mails from members of the Filipino community across Australia expressing dismay at what they see as an attempt by some to transplant Filipino politics into the Australian environment.
The controversy surrounding the incumbent FCCVI executive committee has been covered in four separate screenings on the national Pinoy TV program and published across five pages in the November 2005 issue of The Philippine Times newspaper
The controversy is now very public with a growing momentum that can not be stopped. The opposition group lead by Jing Sosa and the concerned FCCVI members for constitutional reform group will both continue in their efforts to pursue a resolution.
The FCCVI executive committee should participate in resolving this controversy for the good of NOT just the Victorian Filipino community, but the sake of all Filipinos across Australia. If they continue to entrench themselves and fail to respond to legitimate grievances then they risk appearing guilty as charged to an increasing list of allegations.
We should all fully support the proposal for constitutional reform which will allow all parties to participate in future fair and open elections.
Ms Kristina Bautista - Dec 2005
Read the Full Legal Opinion on the Current FCCVI Constitution here
On the 29th of December a Complaint and Statement of Claim was lodged at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court
Read the Magistrates’ Court Complaint & Statement of Claim here
Open Letter from FAFAGI to all Victorian Filipinos explaining the need for legal action
Read the FAFAGI Open Letter here
Do you know these FCCVI clubs and organisations in Victoria?
Click here to download the Filipino Community Council of Victoria Inc. Constitution
as amended and submitted to Consumer Affairs Victoria (Word Format)
We invite the current FCCVI administration to respond to the information provided to us by concerned FCCVI members and we will provide the FCCVI administration and opposition with equal space including hosting any supporting documentation for public download.
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