Yes, the ruling clique of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) has abandoned one of its former national executive officers (NEO), Ben Menor, to be fed to the Sharks (sic) in the Office of the District Attorney (DA). This writer received today from a confidential source a copy of an e-mail sent by NaFFAA national treasurer, Lourdes Corrales, to 10 recipients on July 30, 2007. In her e-mail, Ms. Corrales denies that the NaFFAA headquarters received any of the funds pertaining to, or coming from, its national convention in San Jose, CA, in August 2002. Mr. Menor and Atty. Rodel Rodis cochaired that  convention.

Perhaps the “Shark” in the Menorgate-NaFFAAgate is the true-to-life version of the reel Shark, as in the moniker of a special prosecutor of the DA’s Office of Los Angeles, as played by James Woods, in a CBS primetime series of the same name. To view the Woods’ “Shark” series, please visit http://www.cbs.com/primetime/shark/

I wrote in this article, The NaFFAA Is Bankrupt Not Only Financially But Also Intellectually, that crooks have been pocketing revenues of the federation. For instance, I wrote, “For a breakdown of the 2002 NaFFAA financial statement – and proof of the financial scandal, as it did not include the revenues from the 2002 NaFFAA convention in San Jose, CA – please go to http://www.pinoyonboard.com/2004/0819_naffaa.html.)” It will not really take a rocket scientist to conclude that my reports about the financial anomalies in the NaFFAA, especially in the holding of its national convention in San Jose in 2002, were based on facts and not on mere innuendoes. Now, Ms. Corrales confirmed my scoop of a report that none of the 2002 convention revenues were turned over to the NaFFAA. This would mean additional criminal charges, as to cash convention-delegates fees that were paid in check, the culprits had to open an unauthorized (sic) bank account in the name of the NaFFAA but with “fake” (sic) bank signatories. Forgery charges, in several counts, plus mail fraud (as some of the checks or documents might have been sent through the post office or courier companies) may have to be filed by the DA’s Sharks. And to which “NaFFAA” bank account was the convention grant—(in form of a check) given by the Wells Fargo Bank—deposited?

Now, I will try to find out the “Ernie” to whom Ms. Corrales addressed the e-mail. There are two Ernies in the recipients’ list: Ernie Gange of Pennsylvania and Ernie Ramos of Florida. Both Ernies are highly-principled community leaders, they are mere regional officers in the NaFFAA; they are not part of the national leadership (of the so-called NEOs). And what I found out, they did not even attend the NaFFAA convention in San Jose in August 2002.

Ms. Corrales and even the NaFFAA national chair, Ms. Alma Q. Kern, will not be able to determine the identity of the person who passed on to me the incriminating e-mail. While there are only 10 recipients, two of them work with the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC: Amb. Willy C. Gaa and retired Gen. Del Lorenzana (the military attaché). Any document, even e-mails, sent to the Philippine Embassy become “public domain.” Only God knows if a member of the Philippine diplomatic corps or any of the other eight community leaders passed on Ms. Corrales’ e-mail to this writer. I am not telling of course and as a journalist, I may not be forced to reveal even by a court of law the source of the information that I receive. (But surely Ambassador Gaa may be now investigating if there is a “leak” in the Philippine Embassy?)

And speaking of Mr. Menor, he and I maintain cordial ties. In fact, we met each other in two social occasions in Burlingame (Northern CA) in February and in San Fernando Valley (Southern CA) in June this year. I have always encouraged Mr. Menor to turn state witness and tell the truth. He probably knows the NaFFAA NEOs who pocketed the convention revenues. It is wrong and unfair for Mr. Menor to face the criminal consequences alone. Now that the NaFFAA ruling clique and its NEOs are feeding him to the DA’s Sharks (sic), perhaps Mr. Menor will finally see the wisdom of a plea bargain anchored on his testimony as a state witness.

So, the Filipino-American soap opera, “NaFFAA-ka-sakit, Kuya Eddie,” continues . . . And Dr. Eddie AAA Calderon of Minneapolis, Minnesota, after whom the “Eddie” part is named, continues to smile. He (who has never been a member of the NaFFAA) has been encouraging me to keep on going and going and going . . . until the truth out. Abangan ang susunod na kabanata . . .

Here is a full reproduction of Ms. Corrales’ e-mail and the attachment that she sent:

-----Original Message-----
From: CCorra4828@aol.com
To: AQKERN@aol.com; Loida834@aol.com; press@naffaa.org; JONMELE@aol.com; EGRconserve@aol.com; Ernesto1gange@aol.com; JoyBruce@aol.com; bdeguzman@yahoo.com; philambausa@gmail.com; del_lorenzana@yahoo.com
Sent: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 7:08 am
Subject: Re: NaFFAA Must Publish It's Financial Statement

Hi Ernie,

Below is the public statement of NaFFAA National on the 2002 National Conference in San Jose, CA.  Any financial transactions that affected the books of NaFFAA National in 2002 were audited  by our external auditors and have been published.  NaFFAA's books are clean.  If you wish to get more information, you must contact Ben Menor himself and get his agency's financial statements.  NaFFAA cannot control the financial transactions of other organizations, unless these transactions were recorded in the books of NaFFAA.  This means if NaFFAA received funds or disbursed funds, that is the only time we will record them in the books.  On an accrual method, unless NaFFAA is aware of any liabilities based on invoices received or written contracts of agreement, we will not record any liability in NaFFAA's books.

We also could not audit the books of another organization such as the Fil-Am SODC (the organization where Ben Menor used to work for) to find out the truth.  I myself was so confused but then again, we had no control over what board members do.  Thus, Ben Menor was relieved of his responsibilities as National Program and Fund Development director.

Best,

Ludy Corrales

NaFFAA National Treasurer