The fight initiated by Bobby Reyes to remove two officers of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) in the NAFVE leadership has gone up to the next level. The NAFVE is the acronym for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans’ Equity. Several NaFFAA state chairpersons have asked the federation’s national chairperson, Alma Q. Kern, to produce the financial statements that Reyes has demanded to comply with the ATIC slogan. ATIC, as Reyes coined, stands for accountability, transparency, integrity and credibility.

Now, there is an internal move by some NaFFAA regional officers to undertake a massive house cleaning and rid the federation of what Reyes described as "crooks." A complete overhaul may mean also the dismissal of Ms. Kern as the national chairperson of the federation. Reyes says that the NaFFAA state officers want to remain unidentified as of now, so as to prevent telegraphing their moves for complete reform. Atty. Rodel Rodis, the disgraced NaFFAA chairman in Northern California, just posted an attack against Reyes in the . Readers may want to read Reyes' reply (dated Oct. 9, 2007) to Mr. Rodis, as published at the end of this article.

Reyes has demanded the removal of Doy Heredia, the NaFFAA chief of staff, and Jon Melegrito, the NaFFAA public-relations director, as two of the top officers of the NAFVE. Mr. Melegrito is the NAFVE’s Steering Committee co-chairman. Reyes said that the veterans’ lobby leadership should not include community leaders like Messrs. Heredia and Melegrito, who have been accused of violating the ATIC tenets. Mr. Melegrito was the NaFFAA executive director when the so-called Menorgate and NaFFAAgate Scandals of San Jose, CA, happened during the NaFFAA annual convention in August 2002. Mr. Heredia chaired the October 2003 fundraiser supposedly for the brushfire victims in San Diego County, Southern California. To date, Mr. Heredia has refused to issue a financial report about the said fundraiser.

The NaFFAA White Knights

The NaFFAA "White Knights and Ladies," as Reyes now calls them, come from several state chapters of the NaFFAA in Region I (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the New England states), Region 3 (the Midwest) and Region 4 (Southeast United States). Some of the "White Knights" said that at the September 2006 NaFFAA national convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, they demanded answers to Reyes’ accusations that the ruling clique in the federation has been mismanaging the NaFFAA finances, if not committing outright fraud. Ms. Kern, who was elected the new national chair at the Hawaii convention, promised to force the NaFFAA national executive officers (NEOs) who chaired the disputed events to produce the requested financial documents. But to date, Ms. Kern has been given the runaround by the NaFFAA NEOs and no financial report has been submitted even to the present members of the NaFFAA National Board of Directors. The reelected NaFFAA national treasurer, Lourdes Corrales, has refused also to produce the disputed "missing" financial reports. It appears that Ms. Kern has been reduced to a ceremonial figurehead being manipulated by the ruling clique members.

The Case Against the NaFFAA NEOs

Reyes has argued since his start for reforms in the NaFFAA starting in May 2000 for community leaders who have declared bankruptcy not be entrusted with handling the finances of public-benefit corporations. He mentioned the fact that a NaFFAA cofounder and his newspaper company have sought protection from a bankruptcy court. Then the Menorgate erupted in San Jose, CA, over the illegal diversion of funds from the Northside Community Center to bankroll the NaFFAA convention in August 2002. The convention co-chair, Ben Menor, was a NaFFAA NEO and chairman of its chapter in San Jose. He soon filed for bankruptcy. Mr. Menor was eventually sued in a civil case by the City of San Jose. He has also been indicted for criminal fraud by the District Attorney of Santa Clara County. The cases are still pending.

Mr. Menor’s Co-chair

During the now-infamous NaFFAA national convention in San Jose, CA, in August 2002, Atty. Rodel Rodis served as Mr. Menor’s co-chair. Atty. Rodis was then a NaFFAA NEO and chairman (up to now) of its chapter in Northern California. Atty. Rodis has also sought the protection of the bankruptcy court even before Mr. Menor did.

These are the details of how Atty. Rodis was forced to file for bankruptcy protection per the tip that a Filipino-American community leader sent to the www.mabuhayradio.com. A malpractice suit (Case Number CGC-96-979206) was filed against Atty. Rodel Rodis on June 24, 1996. The Superior Court of San Francisco found Atty. Rodis guilty of malpractice and negligence in the handling the case of his client, Cecilia Tameta. On July 10, 1998, there was a Notice of Entry of Judgment in, which ordered Mr. Rodis to pay Ms. Tameta $137,250 plus costs. Since Atty. Rodis did not have any malpractice insurance, he filed for bankruptcy and on Oct. 26, 2000, he filed a notice of pending bankruptcy and stay of state court action. The www.mabuhayradio.com made a quick online query and found the Register of Actions in the CGC-96-979206 case. The record can be accessed at this link: http://www.sftc.org/Scripts/Magic94/mgrqispi94.dll or please just go to www.sftc.org and type in the case-number 979206 in the inquiry button.

This online magazine will soon publish in full the results of its investigation of the Tameta vs. Rodis case.

One NaFFAA state chairperson said that he and several fellow chapter officers might join Bobby Reyes in a class suit against the NaFFAA NEOs who were elected in the August 2002 convention in San Jose. Reyes is now talking with a Caucasian law firm about representing the plaintiffs (on behalf of the Fil-Am community) in a class suit. Reyes argues that the NaFFAA suffered irreparable harm when some of the former and present NEOs committed fraud in managing the federation. As a result of the financial scandals, several mainstream entities such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank and others have stopped giving donations to the NaFFAA.

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata nitong "NaFFAA-ka-sakit, Kuya Eddie" soap opera.

Here is the latest encounter with Atty. Rodis:

Dear Atty. Rodis:

There you go again, young man. You have the time to post half of the story of an Internet dialogue and call me by your usual derogatory term. I told you already the meaning of BORAT: "Bicolnons Ostracizing and Running After Thieves." Yes, thieves like you and some of your fellow National Executive Officers (NEOs) at the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA). You are really used to using derogatory terms, like the time you called Filipino Express columnist Ricky Rillera and me as "as_holes." And it is really embarrassing for a Filipino-American lawyer, who is at the same time a president of a community college, to be cursing online. You showed really your true class ("Wa class," in Sorsoganon dialect) and the fact that you are losing your cool. Hindi ka kasi, taga Be Cool, oops, Bicol.

You have all the time in the world posting comments about this topic, about that issue, about here, about there, and yet you refuse to post a one-page Profit-and-Loss Statement of the NaFFAA national convention in San Jose, CA, that you and Ben Menor co-chaired. Mr. Menor has already been charged in court and we are expecting you to be included as an unindicted principal or at the very least, an accomplice.

Here is the other half of the Internet dispute with Sumi Sevilla Haru:

So, you never learn, my Dear Atty. Rodis. You post something that you think would embarrass me but in the end, it is you and your reputation as a crooked lawyer and a thief in our community that are once again discussed and highlighted. What a pity for a man trying to be known as an American educator but you actually appear to have left your education at the University of the Philippines.

Mabuhay,

Bobby M. Reyes

Chairman, BORAT Movement

(Bicolnons Ostracizing and Running After Thieves)

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