Part Two of the “Butanding Brouhaha” Series

He/she who debates with a fool is a bigger fool—Sorsoganon adage

T hus, Atty. Loida Nicolas-Lewis tells a variation of the said adage from her home province of Sorsogon to Chicago-based journalist Joseph G. Lariosa. Mr. Lariosa hails from Sorsogon’s Donsol town, the home of the “butanding” (whale shark). She said also in an e-mail to Mr. Lariosa that she need not render an accounting of the donations her group solicited from Filipino Americans for the Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas campaign kitty. In short, Ms. Loida does not want to dignify Bobby Reyes' query about the accounting of the Noynoy-Mar campaign fundraisers that she spearheaded. After all, he (Reyes) is a "fool," Attorney Lewis says by way of a defense.

Editor’s Notes: Since Atty. Lewis and Bobby Reyes both hail from Sorsogon City, this series is named after the “butanding,” as an honor and tribute to Mr. Lariosa, who frequently mentions the whale shark in his writings. The use of the “butanding” is appropriate, as the Fil-Am fundraising for Noynoy-Mar slate now smells like a hackneyed two-day-old fish. Here is an example of Mr. Lariosa’s reference to the whale shark:

 Georgia (and Butanding and Abaca) On My Mind

B ut Attorney Lewis does not still get it, as she has not been getting it since the day the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) was founded in 1997. The issues of the ATIC are not debatable topics. ATIC, as I coined in 2000 means “accountability, transparency, integrity and credibility.”

The NaFFAA national executive officers (NEOs) – even during the two terms of Mrs. Lewis as national chairperson from 2002 to 2006 – have refused to present financial reports despite the fact that the NaFFAA is a public-benefit entity.

Nobody accuses Loida Nicolas-Lewis of stealing a single cent from the NaFFAA or from the Noynoy-Mar Campaign fundraisers in the United States. She is that rich, in fact, she is filthy rich. But why is she so allergic to do an accounting of the financial proceeds of the various fundraisers that her federation and clique have been doing all these years?

Mrs. Lewis Refused to Investigate the Menorgate

A month after her election as the NaFFAA national chair in San Jose, California, during the federation’s convention in August 2002, I had more-than an hour’s telephone conversation with my “Manay Loida.” The call was arranged by then NaFFAA Region I chair, Rudy Nicolas (not related to Mrs. Lewis). She is my childhood friend and my father, Dominador, used to be the lawyer of Ms. Loida’s dad, Francisco Nicolas. During our telephone conversation, I warned my favorite “manay” that the Host Committee for that San Jose convention diverted funds from the NaFFAA sponsors and the City of San Jose to personal use. She refused to believe me. But I was proven right. The convention chair, Ben Menor, was sued later by the City of San Jose and the District Attorney of Santa Clara County for civil and criminal fraud, respectively. Mr. Menor chose to plead “No Contest,” which in legal parlance is the equivalent of a guilty plea. To read about the Menorgate in the NaFFAAgate section of this website, please just click on this link, http://www.mabuhayradio.com/naffaagate/

The Menorgate and the Ballygate Scandals prompted me to dub Ms. Lewis as the “Snow White(wash)” and her inner circle in the NaFFAA as her “Seven Dwarfs.” To read about her funny moniker, please read this article, How Loida Lewis Got Dubbed “Snow White(wash)” and then “CinderLoida” in Ongoing NaFFAA Soap Opera

Editor’s Note: To read more about the Ballygate (wherein Ms. Lewis was the third member of the Committee of Elections that orchestrated the NaFFAA election scandal), please click this hyperlink: Why Many First-generation Filipino Immigrants Are Failing Badly as American Citizens

A Pattern of Deceptive Attacks Against Critics

T he NaFFAA NEOs always attack the person of the critic, instead of answering the criticism. It runs after the person of the messenger, instead of dealing with the message.

The NaFFAA ruling clique has always hit this writer as a “crazy troublemaker out to destroy the federation.” Yes, even the Ms. CinderLoida likes to call her “favorite” Sorsoganon childhood friend as a “fool.” But then instead of getting mad, I get to crack jokes, as in this article, Is it Better to Be Called "Crazy" than Be Dubbed "Stupid"?

Now Back to the Noynoy-Mar Fundraisers in America

M anay Loida and her clique, especially her co-chair, Atty. Rodel Rodis, and their treasurer, Charito Benipayo, must render an accounting of the Filipino-American donations to the Noynoy-Mar campaign. They must account also for the sale proceeds of the T-shirts and other memorabilia that they sold to the donors and the general public.

And it appears that Attorney Lewis does not even know the law. She told Joseph Lariosa about “the Philippine Omnibus Election Code of 2007, which states that ‘foreigners and foreign corporations’ are not allowed to contribute to any political campaign in the Philippines.” But in her infinite goodness, she forgot the basic legal maxim in election laws: “He or she that has the right to vote possesses the right to contribute campaign funds to any candidate and/or political party.” She, Attorney Rodis, Ms. Benipayo and almost all of the donors to their Noynoy-Mar fundraisers were (and are still) dual citizens. And many of them registered to vote for the May 10, 2010, Philippine presidential elections. And remember the other legal maxim, “ignorance of the law excuses no one.”

N ow, we will ask again Joseph Lariosa to solicit any further commentary from Attorney Lewis, Atty. Rodel Rodis, Ms. Charito Benipayo and the other leaders of the Noynoy-Mar Fundraisers in the United States to do a public accounting of the proceeds. The issue of whether Bobby Reyes is a fool or not has nothing to do with the accounting being demanded. My lunacy or sanity is beside the point. LOL.

If Atty. Lewis, her fellow NaFFAA NEOs, et al, do not realize it yet, her statement coursed through Mr. Lariosa on June 24, 2010, made the First Clan (Cojuangcos-Aquinos) of the Philippines look bad. Because she claimed that she turned over $110,000 to a Cojuangco-Lopa scion and a sister of then-presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino.

Mr. Lariosa related what Ms. Lewis told him, as stated in this article,

U.S.-based Filipinos Volunteer for Good Governance

“When the U.S. Pinoys for Noynoy-Mar raised $110,000 (5-million pesos), it wanted to make sure the campaign contribution went to the Liberal Party, which has a free hand to spend it in the campaign. Atty. Loida Nicolas Lewis sent thru telegraphic transfer the $100,000 to Mr. Jaime (Rafa?) Lopa, the treasurer of Senator Aquino, and handed the $10,000 personally to one of Aquino’s sisters.”

The ball now falls on the court of Ms. Loida and the other NaFFAA NEOs, who in their private capacity, raised funds for the Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas slate. As I wrote before, the NaFFAA guys have the biggest rackets in town even if nearly all of them do not know how to play tennis . . . LOL.

(To be continued . . .)