Part Four of the “Butanding Brouhaha” Series

Matalino man ang matsing, nalalamangan din (A shrewd monkey can be outsmarted by a shrewder ape) – a Filipino adage

T hus, the national executive officers (NEOs) of then two-year-old National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) “outsmarted” the cunning and financially-astute Mike Arroyo when his wife, then Senator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ran for the vice presidency in the 1998 national elections.

Mike Arroyo accepted the offer of the NaFFAA NEOs (who were supposedly acting in their personal capacity) to raise campaign funds in the United States for Mrs. Arroyo.

The NaFFAA NEOs held fundraising dinners in San Francisco, California, and other cities. They held also other fundraising events. When Mike Arroyo asked for the proceeds, the NaFFAA NEOs said that they “lost” money in doing the fundraisers and they did not give him a single dollar.

Thus, after the scam done with the fundraising for the Philippine Chancery in Washington, DC, the Arroyo fundraisers established a NaFFAA-NEOs' pattern of deceit and con jobs.

W hen news spread that the NaFFAA NEOs put one over the wily-and-crafty Mike Arroyo, several jokes about the federation clique cropped up in the Bay Area. Here is one of the jokes:

“The story goes that five NaFFAA NEOs overheard a Filipino veteran praying loudly in a church in San Francisco. The FilVet said, ‘Lord, please help me raise a thousand dollars, as my landlord would evict me and eight other fellow veterans if we cannot have the amount to pay our rent.’

         “The NaFFAA NEOs took pity on the FilVet and they contributed $100 each. Then one of them took the money and gave it to the FilVet while saying, ‘We NaFFAA officials heard your prayer and we want to help you raise the money that you need. Here is $500.’ The FilVet thanked the NaFFAA NEO but then continued praying. The FilVet said, ‘Thank you, Lord, for answering immediately my prayers. But please next time, don’t course it through the NaFFAA. The NaFFAA guys pocketed half of it.’”

Then after another NaFFAA NEO, Atty. Rodel Rodis, was arrested by an officer of the San Francisco Police for allegedly passing a bogus $100 bill, another joke cropped up in Northern California. The one-liner said that the police said that “the greenback was genuine but it was dirty money since it came from the NaFFAA treasury.”

The Crooked Clique that Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Y es, the same NaFFAA clique members composed the Host Committee for the NaFFAA National Convention in San Jose, California, in August 2002. This writer stunned readers when he got a copy – after nearly nine years – of the financial report submitted (but not released to the public) by the convention chair, Ben Menor. Yes, Ben of the Menorgate fame. For 140 delegates, the Host Committee charged for the delegate tags (marked as “labels & stickers”) $7,134.75. This led a NaFFAA cofounder, Ernie Gange of Pennsylvania, to remark that the expenditure was OK if the Host Committee printed the delegate tags on fifty-dollar bills.

Readers may like to read more details about the financial scams of the NaFFAA NEOs in these articles:

The “Embezzlement” Issues in the Menorgate/NaFFAAgate Scandals of San Jose

“Dietzcoveries:” Sex, Lies and NaFFAAgate

To read about the misadventures, including the sexual escapades” described in the Menorgate, please just type in “Menor” in the Search box of this website.

(To be continued . . .)