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NEW YORK --- News affect all of us like pollens attract bees. When the term lavish spending was again mentioned, I was like a bee with its antennae up in search for pollen.
I found Nimia Lacebal, president of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI). And the news is that she had used up PIDCI funds in a fashion that could be called lavish spending. Let me count the ways.
First up is the supposedly Leyte Dance Company fund raising project. When I called her up on May 26 to ask if PIDCI funds were allocated for the project, she wasn’t forthright with her response. Instead, she referred me to Mila Mendez, the fund-raising committee chair and suggested that I also call the consul general.
Mendez said this was approved by the board and told me that about $5,000 to $6,000 would be raised and that proceeds would be shared by both PIDCI and the consul general’s “Adopt A Classroom” project.
I knew the project wasn’t approved by the board but Mendez insisted that it was. She also told me about a fund-raising campaign letter that she had sent out and that responses to it were coming in trickles.
On further inquiry, it turned out this wasn’t approved. And to date, close to $10,000 of PIDCI funds has been shelled out. And no financial report of the project has yet been submitted. A list of donors, benefactors and ticket sales are also not known. In fact, even though a check for $5,000 to the dance group was made at the request of the consul general, Sofia Abad, finance and budget officer, had to ask the PIDCI treasurer for it.
Second, how many floats should there be in the parade? Historically, as I can recall, only two floats are allocated to PIDCI and the rest are paid for by sponsors. It turned out that PIDCI had seven, which costs PIDCI about $11,200. That’s not including the white horse that was rented at a cost of $850 and the use of the costumes.
Third, how many marching bands should there be in the parade? Again, this costs PIDCI $17,350 for the twelve marching bands that performed. And the funny part of this was that no marching band was assigned to lead the parade.
If we add up all these expenses, it results to lavish spending. These are cost overruns which are not necessary especially if no funds are available to back them up. It is no wonder therefore that PIDCI is scrambling for funds to pay up its vendors.
Lacebal cannot keep everything in secrecy, which she and her sidekick, Dr. Ellice Flores and a few others are privy to it.
Besides, if her loyal lieutenant, Abad, had done her job as finance and budget officer, these problems would have not surfaced.
Also, Lacebal cannot shrug off her accountability any longer. Even if she ignores criticism from the media and her critics, these controversies will not fade away. On the contrary, it will linger on even if she continues to brown nose with the consulate.
This brings me up to another issue that’s been troubling me. I thought I heard Consul Edgar Badajos correctly at the Philippine Forum townhall meeting. He said that the consulate has nothing to do with PIDCI. Perhaps Lacebal can help me clear this up.
If this was true, what was the consulate’s role in the Leyte Dance Group project? In some press reports, it was touted as a consulate project and supported by PIDCI. Which is which?
In addition, why would the consul general call the treasurer at about midnight to ask for a check? Why would Abad send a message to the treasurer requesting for a check and inferring the name of the consul general? Badajos was also the emcee at the grandstand during the parade.
What is this all about? Isn’t this brazen brown-nosing? Are we going back to the PIDCI’s pre-incorporation days?
Lacebal has a lot of answering to do next Wednesday. Foremost is her lavish spending followed by a question on her role on expelling Philippine Forum members from the parade. Where have all the money gone? Lavish spending.
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In Search of our Soul through Poetry
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Long ago and far away, or so now it seems that way, a group of kids gathered at a rock joint along Edsa, called Club Dredd. It was nothing fancy: a makeshift stage to perform, a bar with cheap drinks and eats. There the Dredd Poets Society gathered to celebrate the spoken word. Some were poets, others musicians but mostly it was anyone with the guts to read a verse or two – self –penned or stolen, to the cheers or jeers of the audience, cold San Miguel in hand. There were no judges: good, bad and lame attempts at performance (mine included) poetry were always welcome. Later, I got more involved with the Dredd Sessions via Tones and Poems, which added a musical (preferably indie rock) performance, and multimedia aspects (i.e. photographs/art exhibited in the lobby area) to the gatherings. When Dredd closed, many of us moved on – to other lives, to other in poetry and song remained.
Flash forward to a warm fall day in Washington DC, where author Tim Saguinsin reads from his book “Buhay sa Angono” in Balagtasan style. It sent shivers down the spines of those who recognized this lost art. It made me think about Filipino poetry, made me wonder about things, and most of all made me wish I could recite poetry that way too!
And then I realized how sad it was that I cannot name any Filipino poet let alone quote any Filipino poem the way I can recite Robert Frost or even Pablo Neruda. (Does Adios Patria Adorada region del sol querida...count? That’s as far as I go.)
Last year an unexpected gift of poetry came my way via Miracle Fruit by Aimee Nezhukumatathil . Since then, I have been keen on finding the Filipino voice, the Filipino soul through poetry. So you can imagine the bonanza I got in the mail in April – National Poetry month (how apropos!) when Eileen Tabios sent me three books, and Patria Rivera sent her new book. I am slowly digesting their work, planning on acquiring other new books by the likes of Paolo Javier, Sarah Gambito and Jon Pineda et al. but I a little insecure about reading them and what’s more, writing about them because I am no intellectual or scholar, not even a poet myself – what if I don’t get it? What if the words mean nothing to me?
But that is not what it’s about -- is it? The beauty of poetry lies in what the reader derives from the experience. As former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky said: “Poetry connects us with our deep roots, our evolution as an animal that evolved rhythmic language as a means of transmitting vital information across the generations. We need the comfort and stimulation that this vital part of us gets from the ancient art.”
I search for those vital connections through our poets’words. My quest for the elusive Pinoy soul/identity continues.
Here’s one for the road (bow ala Aiza Seguerra—for those who remember her).
"Ako’y tutula kahit hindi ako makata.
Ako’y tutula mahabang mahaba
Ako’y natulala napangalumbaba
Ako’y napaupo.
Tapos na po."
e-mail. manilagirl01@hotmail.com
www.manila-girl.com
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