CFC & GK - Here We Go Again

The community is yet again embroiled in another dispute (although some would say that term is an understatement). This time the potential stakes are higher, the potential losses will be more deeply felt, and the feud potentially more bitter. Yes, even more than THAT.

Some faces are familar, some are new, but the enemy remains a constant. Guard your hearts and your minds my friends. Sometimes in our arrogance that our faith and prayers protect us well against the devil's plots and keep our intentions pure, we don't realize that it is in that arrogance that he finds his way in.


Everything I've said above is the extent of what I have to say on this. The emails/documents are below, I'll leave you all to discern for yourselves.


And so, with a heavy, heavy heart, here we go again:

First, a look at how this situation may have been instigated. The following are emails from GK leadership starting from November 3, 2009.
Gk Internal Emails
Download this document HERE.

One of the emails contained above is from Jose Mari Oquiñena, dated January 12, 2010 and entitled "WHERE SHOULD BE OUR LOYALTY?". Zeny Gimenez responds:

Zeny-Gimenez-Response-to-Mari-Oquiñena-open-letter
Download this document HERE.

Lastly for this entry, the IC statement dated January 15, 2010.

IC Statement - Preserving the Cfc Way of Life
Download this document HERE.



Some faces are familar, some are new, all are friends. All share a bond that has tied us together as family, through thick and thin. Let's not forget what brought us together, let's not forget that in our community, the thread the binds us together is much, much stronger than the temporary thorns that threaten to tear us apart.

I start my journey of discernment again, and I am inviting you to join me.

All Together Now

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are again called to reach out to those among us who urgently need our help.  Typhoon "Undoy" has left a wide swath of destruction in Luzon, but most severely in Metro Manila, particularly the cities of Pasig, Muntinglupa, Quezon City, Marikina, Manila, Novaliches and the municipalities of Cainta and San Mateo.  Thousands of homes have been destroyed by rampaging waters and thousands of families displaced and now homeless.

We have set up a relief operation center and command post at the Home Office.  We know that our government, through the local governments and the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Center, has already mobilized rescue and relief operations and major agencies like the media and other groups have joined hands to extend urgent help to our poor countrymen.  But they can only do so much and so many people have not been reached by relief efforts.  Many are still hungry and have lost even their basic necessities.

We appeal to all of you to come forward now.  This is the time to join hands, to open our wallets and our hearts and show that indeed we match our words with action.

May we request you to mobilize your sectors, areas and countries to gather basic foodstuffs for distribution to our brethren, including those in our GK sites.  While we will accept anything, such as used clothes and shoes, we would prefer blankets, rice, water and basic groceries.  We would prefer that you send cash so that the Home Office can purchase those items that are urgently needed. 

Please send your cash donations to BPI Peso Savings Account Number 3103-3055-85, for local donors.  Donors from abroad may send their deposits to BPI Dollar Savings Account Number 3104-0106-35 (Please indicate that the Swift Code is BOPIPHMM.) Please make your deposit payable to CFC Global Mission Foundation, Inc.

The CFC Relief Center has the following hot lines:  (02 ) 727-0682 to 87.  These lines will be open until 12 midnight tonight (September 27)  and from 8 AM to 8 PM starting tomorrow, September 28.

We hope that you will join us in this massive effort. Please tell all your relatives and friends to also help.  This is our call now to be truly brothers and sisters to those who need us.  May God bless us all during these difficult times.

--
CFC UGNAYAN MULTIMEDIA CENTER
COUPLES FOR CHRIST

Let us remember the Lord's promise.

There are other ways to help.  There are many people who are also doing their part and I believe the best course of action is to link arms with them to provide the fastest and most efficient methods of reaching those in need.


Click HERE for a Google map of those in need in Marikina and the surrounding area.
There is a constantly updated database of information on a Google Spreadsheet of Calls for Rescue, Missing People; Found People, Emergency Numbers, and Where/How To Donate/Help.  Click the tabs on the bottom to switch views.  Click HERE to go through it.



You may also donate to the local Red Cross HERE.  They are already mobilized and on the ground, so they need your help the most.


International donations can be made through ABS-CBN, GMA7, and/or services set up by TXTPower and Aerofoil Media.  These have already been vouched for by reputable people.


You may also check HERE for more ways you can help.  The most important things people need right now are food and water.  If any of you have rubber boats or rafts, or large trucks, you should be able to volunteer its services in the mobilization centers, I believe there is one at ADMU.  


Please let me know if you need me to update this with more information as things progress.  One thing to remember too, is that we are expecting another storm in less than 3 days.  It will pay to be prepared for that as well.


God bless us all.

 

 

Of Comments and Intense Reactions

Hello bloggers! The official explanation for my short absence is in the next entry. In this one, I'm going to be doing something that I should have done earlier: Explain and present the new comment format I'm testing out. Many of you have reacted and commented about the new form, and I believe where I fell short on was the lack of a short tutorial on how to use it. It really is simple and very much like our old form, except it allows us to thread comments (more on this later).

So, please don't let the name of the comment plugin fool you, IntenseDebate is just a name, it's not what really goes on. Before you dismiss it as a gimicky thing, please let me defend it and its purpose. If you all have given it an honest try and still don't like it, i will gladly revert back to the default Blogger comment format.

Let me take you now through the simple process of leaving comments using this new format. Clicking on the same "comments" link at the bottom of each entry takes you to the entry's standalone page, like this one for the "The Village...III" for example. At the bottom of the existing comments, you'll find the form to leave your own.


After writing your comment, you have the option to leave your name or stay anonymous by leaving it blank. You DON'T have to sign up for an IntenseDebate account, though I would recommend it so you can track the comments you've made and refer back to them easily if the need arises. Click on the "Submit Comment" button when you're done.




Now, here is where I think some people are getting confused. IntenseDebate will now display your comment and it will look like it already got posted. This is just temporary and for your eyes only (based on your IP address). Actually, this comment will still be awaiting moderation (like in the old style of commenting) and will be posted publicly for all to see after I approve it. Some of you might have seen this and thought that I am not moderating comments anymore, don't worry that I still am.

With regards to threading comments, this is a way of responding to specific comments without having to quote it like in the old method. It allows us to easily follow a conversation between two bloggers, or allow any of you or me to respond to specific questions directed at you or myself. Here is how you do it:

Each comment will have a "Post Reply" link below it.


You click that and a standard comment entry form will appear. You can leave a reply just like posting a regular comment, and it will now appear under the comment you are responding to after I approve it. It will look like this:



A quick update:

Thanks to p.e. for asking, you can sort the comments as well, for those who want to see the latest activity or sort by date (default).





As for the html formatting our more internet savvy bloggers have utilized, they are still active.

IntenseDebate supports the following simple HTML tags:

<a>, <b>, <i>, <u>, <em>, <p>, <blockquote>, <br>, <strong>, <strike>, <img>

The most commonly used ones are the BOLD (<b>) and ITALIC (<i>) tags. You use them by enclosing the word or text you want formatted with the tags, for ex:

<b>your text here</b> will display as:

your text here

So there, I hope you all can give it an honest try, I do believe it will be helpful in keeping track of comments in the blog, especially as we interact with each other all the time nowadays. I noticed how many reactions the baiting commenter dan droff sasholder elicited with his sarcastic ways, and it helps to respond to such using threaded comments, hehe.

The Village That Frank Built Part III

UPDATE 09/05/08:
Delisting letter added.

Part I is HERE.
Part II is HERE.

In fairness to the Easter Group, Jun Junia, et al, here is their next response on the Remarville issue following the Mario Pareno response published in Part II. I am hoping for a response from the parties named, preferably with some documents to back up any claims, something the Easter Group is always noticeably short on. I personally would love to also hear from the FFL members themselves who were on site and not just from Jun Junia.

They've directed this response specifically at this blog and at the images and issues posted here. While it is my opinion that it doesn't hold water (because of the coinciding testimonies from several parties and not just from one), I am waiting for actual witnesses to speak up. I am also positive there is a video of the event in question somewhere. If you know how I can get to that video, I'll appreciate a heads up.

I've seen the calls for a "Blogger's GK Village" started by TE and it gladdens my heart. I feel tho that before we get started on that, we have to settle any injustices that are being committed now, lest it happens again. This is OUR watch now, we must do all we can to set things RIGHT before we move on.

I will be updating this entry throughout the week.



--- On Tue, 8/26/08, Easter Group wrote:

From: Easter Group
Subject: Fwd: CFC Global's 20 July CFC International Village (Remarville) Build
To:
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 7:52 PM


Following our 1st reply to the CFC Global bloggers' comments and e-mails, more releases were made by them that needed some correction. We have the brother himself, Jun Junia, who wrote the e-mail account below to clear the air on this issue which has reached quite vicious and ugly proportions because of rather baseless accusations. With this correction, we hope all are now clarified with the true state of affairs in Remarville.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


To: Easter Group
Cc: junjunia@gmail.com


CFC Global's 20 July CFC International Village (Remarville) Build

A lot has been said about the foiled attempt of CFC Global for an alleged BUILD at the CFC International Village (Remarville) last 20July 2008. I would like to clarify that this 20 July affair was not a BUILD attempt but an INVASION of a site which CFC Global knew and accepted as a Restoration Village and not a GK site.

To get a better perspective hereunder is a brief background of said project. CFC International Village was started by members of North C Cluster 6, then under the headship of JUN JUNIA. There is no problem with the land acquisition as the land was purchased and is being paid for by the beneficiaries on an installment basis over 5 years (free of interest) and as of this date amortization payments for 2 years and 7 months have been made.

This social housing project really took off when Frank Padilla saw it as a chance to give homeless CFC members their own home. Frank Padilla then requested the CFC International community to adopt one house each, thus the name CFC International Village.

Work was started in January 2006 but because of differences in development approaches between Junia and Pancho Lopez Tan, GK National took over control of project development in December 2006. Raul Dizon was in charge of the area for eight (8) months and during that period he created his own clique which he called his TEACHER's PETS, and which group became his alter ego.

When the split in the CFC community happened the majority of the beneficiaries chose to align themselves with CFC FFL and the homeowner's association took over the project. Raul Dizon's Teacher's Pets (a noisy but numerical minority) aligned themselves with CFC Global and created divisions in the project while openly defying the homeowner's association. When caught with violations they would cry HARRASSMENT. This division in the Remarville community (FFL vis a vis Global) is the problem that the association had been trying to correct when the 20 July Build of CFC Global cropped up.

On 18 July 2008 I got a text from Tito Santos telling me that they had scheduled a BUILD in Remarville on July 20, 2008 and that permission had been given by Lito de Guzman. Tito Santos advised me that Ricky Santos, an awardee of one of the three houses to be built, would coordinate with the association.

Lito de Guzman, when contacted, told me that the message Tito Santos was circulating was misleading as he took back this positive comment when he learned that Tito Santos had not asked permission from the homeowner's association and had sent him a second text asking him to seek the association's permission first. In a dialogue with Ricky Santos on the evening of 18 July, he told us that he was asked to attend a meeting in Melo Villaroman's office and was surprised to see people identified as DIZON teacher's pets in that meeting where the plan for the 20 July Build was finalized. The Remarville homeowner's association then explained to Ricky Santos that on 20 July the beneficiaries themselves were scheduled to work in the site and the presence of 200 outsiders may derail this internal unifying process. Furthermore how do you place 200 people on three (3) small (3.5M x 7.0 M) lots over and above the 30 to 50 beneficiaries working there also. Finally it was explained to Ricky that you do not attain UNITY by the statement of Tito Santos that we will go there to build for the 3 members of CFC and if things work out we will also work on the houses of non CFC members. You do not start unity moves by going into FFL territory and calling them non CFC.

Ricky Santos understood and promised to do something. On the morning of 19 July, Ricky Santos sent me the text message that Melo Villaroman had cancelled the 20July Build at Remarville. I forwarded this message to Tito Santos together with the information that the homeowner's association had disapproved their 20 July build..

The reply of Tito Santos was that he did not know Ricky Santos and he would pursue their 20 July Build despite the disapproval by the association and whether I would be there or not. That is when I knew that Tito Santos was not coordinating the 20 July Build, but rather only informing us that they would proceed with the Remarville build despite the disapproval by the association, thus we called it an INVASION and prepared for such.

The pictures being circulated by CFC Global will readily show that we had women at the entrance barrier as we do not adhere to the DADANAK ANG DUGO theory and never said that. Neither did we have goons, unless CFC Global looks at FFL members as goons. We are however grateful to the barangay as they were a big help.

So my friends the 20 July exercise of CFC Global was not a build, but an invasion as

- They had knowledge that Remarville is not a GK site, yet they never sought permission from the association before they planned their BUILD.

- Tito Santos was not coordinating, but merely informing us that irregardless of the association's disapproval he would push through with the Build Tito Santos was in fact spreading distorted information while not heeding the advise of Ricky Santos that their 20 July BUILD HAD BEEN CANCELLED BY MELO VILLAROMAN.

- The mobilization of 200 persons was illogical as it would be physically impossible to place them on the site of three small lots (unless the purpose was the usual photo ops of GK)

- In the process of dissuading them from their 20 July build Tito Santos was informed that the beneficiaries affiliated with Global and FFL were working together as a group of 30 to 50 people, and they had a build scheduled also on 20 July; thereby making it doubly difficult for an additional 200 outsiders to work in the area. The beneficiaries themselves working together irregardless of affiliation was the real start of unity.

The highlight of this episode was when ERIC CAYABYAB attempted to forcefully enter the site. After trying to impress me that he was a doctor and head of GK he sarcastically asked me IF I KNEW WHERE THE MONEY BEING USED FOR THE MATERIALS THEY WERE SENDING TO REMARVILLE CAME FROM? He was implying that it was their (GK) money and I amusedly answered it was Remarville funds (not GK). I had been informed that donations for the 130 units in Remarville had been fully made. This is in the custody of GK and they are releasing this only to beneficiaries who would affiliate with CFC Global. Then Eric Cayabyab directly coordinated with Arlene Castor, a beneficiary who is being delisted for having built a house more than three times the standard size for Remarville. Castor claims to have spent Php 200,000.00 of her personal funds (over and above the Php 80,000.00 plus of free materials she got from FFL and Global inventories). If Eric Cayabyab were a true GK practitioneer he should have relocated Arlene Castor in Camella Homes, considering the violations Arlene Castor has made and the money she claims to have spent, instead of letting her spearhead the 20July affair. GK/CFC Global has not spearheaded a move to relocate her to a regular subdivision, but has in fact provided her a lawyer in the delisting proceedings filed by the association against Castor. It is by this act that I wonder if GK has changed its qualification standards.

Finally I feel that the LORD really knows how to play jokes on us.. This 20 July Build is personified by what I call THE UNHOLY TRINITY. You see the main characters in the whole affair are holy people as

- One of the houses programmed for construction in the 20 July invasion is that of RICKY SANTOS

- The person pursuing the unauthorized BUILD/INVASION is TITO SANTOS

- The person currently circulating libelous statements against me from a self assumed high perch of moral authority but in total ignorance of facts of the case is MIKE SANTOS, a son of Tito Santos

Today Remarville is completely polarized and vividly depicts the conflict between CFC Global and CFC FFL being lived on a day to day basis by persons/neighbors who take pride in calling themselves Christians while being unchristian to one another. This is the reality of what CFC or we have become.

I pray that you can pass this on to our brothers in the community so that lessons in christian behavior may be learned and current moral standards being used/practiced be reassessed.

JUN JUNIA




* * *

I believe it is time for our beneficiaries to speak up. Jun Junia speaks of Christian Behavior. Please be fair then Mr. Junia. Sana po hindi lang salita yan. Payagan nyo po ang mga apektado na magsalita at mag bigay ng kanilang panig, na walang takot ma de-list.

Is that fair? I've published your side and I believe the they have a right to respond in kind.

UPDATE 09/05/08
Sample delisting letter added

Now I am certain this isn't the only one given out. At this time, I have had no updates so far on the situation inside save for the comments left anonymously by residents of Remarville. Please keep it up, we are doing this for you.

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