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PCC-NSW Affiliates Pass NO CONFIDENCE VOTE

September 3rd, 2020 · No Comments

By Benjie de Ubago

The PCC-NSW affiliates have spoken!

The Philippine Community Council of NSW (PCC-NSW) Special General Meeting  (SGM) proceeded as planned last Sunday, 30 August, 2020 and passed a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE on the sitting President, Alric Bulseco.  

This result is an historical first for PCC!  President Bulseco had tried to pull all the stops possible and spread disinformation to sow confusion among affiliates. Although it was a long drawn out process of wrangling with Bulseco and his current Board, the affiliates were content with the outcome of the SGM.

Alric Buseco gets Vote of No Confidence

The affiliates present also agreed that there had been a clear breach of the constitution as both Alric Bulseco and Serna Ladia, immediate past president were representing Australian Mindanao (AusMin) at the time of the elections. Ladia declared that she was representing Filipino Community Cooperative and then shifted to the Campbelltown group, CRFCC only after the elections.  Independent legal advice was obtained from Atty. Millie Telan of Telan Lawyers who stated that there was a clear breach of the constitution.

Conduct unbecoming of a PCC-NSW official was also slapped on Bulseco for non compliance with the election rule; defiance of protocols and code of ethics; and non response to letters and requests.

Attendees at the SGM were wearing masks and observed social distancing. (Photo courtesy of Ronaldo Villaver)

After passionate deliberations a Vote of No Confidence was passed with the approval of 2/3 of those present as per Office of Fair Trading (OFT) meeting regulations.  This means that Bulseco must step down from his throne.

(https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/associations-and-co-operatives/associations/running-an-association/meetings)

The SGM was convened by Jun Relunia (PASCI), Zena Samar (Bicol Inc.) and Ethel Singzon (Samar Association of Australia) after Bulseco and his current Board ignored and failed to respond to the initial request  of former presidents for an SGM. Also, the Affiliates’ Resolution at the February 16th General Meeting for the Board to call SGM was ignored.  The body voted Ferdi Francisco as Presiding Officer and Vangie Leones as the Secretary for the SGM, with Penny Perfecto assisting.

Although the start of the meeting was delayed due to a mysterious electrical failure at the venue, the SGM proceeded smoothly.  Organisers took all precautions to ensure a safe environment for the attendees.  The SGM had 39 people in attendance – 28 Affiliates, 11 guests, including media representative Mars Cavestany.  Only three (3) of the current PCC Board members attended, i.e. Vangie Leones, Grace Liston and Rox Molaven and should probably deserve a badge of courage. Also present were the concerned former presidents:  Kate Andres (1994-1997/2003-2004/2016), Malyn Andres-Chun (2002), Neria Soliman (2005), Jimmy Lopez (2006), Ronaldo Villaver (2009), Atoy Sayas (2012), Jun Relunia (2014), Evelyn Beed (2015) and PCC founder, Sennie Masian.

Issues raised:

  1. Bicol Inc was not allowed to vote due to incorrect date of appointment and for the Bicol President (Ben Bonggat) revoking the appointment made by the Bicol Inc Board without informing the Bicol Inc Board and the appointed representative until election day.
  2. Nurses Association authorized representative was not accepted to vote.
  3. Non conformity with election rules.  Some nominations were accepted via email; some were not.
  4. Alice Tayaban (Treasurer) accepted and signed her signature a day prior to being nominated.
  5. The financial Statement presented at the AGM was unaudited and was only submitted to the affiliates with the Auditor’s signature only on August 14, 2020. Some issues raised remain unanswered.
  6. Conflict of Interest and no independent election committee. Board members standing for re-election were also responsible for vetting the candidates and receiving the nominations.

The body also approved amendments to the constitution, to include: 

  1. An independent/external Comelec to be appointed, and duties and membership were clarified.
  2. Clear identification of association’s authorized representative.
  3. Deletion of the Immediate past president from the Board.
  4. Single representation of associations at Council meetings.
  5. No proxies to avoid politicking.
  6. No parties to avoid politicking and so as not to disadvantage others.
  7. Current non-registered affiliates will be requested to comply with the constitution before the 2021 elections.  Clubs unregistered will become associate members and will have no voting rights.
  8. Audited Financial Statement and previous AGM Minutes to be emailed to Affiliates at least 7 days before the AGM. 

Convenor, Jun Relunia will forward special resolutions approved of the SGM to the Public Officer, Serna Ladia for submission to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as required.  Should Ladia fail to submit the forms within seven (7) days), Relunia who was authorized by the affiliates at the SGM will lodge the required A06 form to OFT.

Obvious was the fact that the affiliates were tired of the rigmarole and shenanigans that have been happening. They were glad to unload and have their say. Overall, the feedback from the affiliates was good.  “We were glad to have been able to express ourselves,” said one attendee. 

“We were pleased with the outcome and that affiliates came,” said Kate Andres.

Now, all is left is for Alric Bulseco to have the decency to follow the voice of the affiliates and step down.

Filipin-Oz

September 3, 2020

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