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Presidents Report 1
July 2007
TO
: ALL HOMEOWNERS AND RESIDENTS
FROM : THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT : LATEST DEVELOPMENT
____________________________________________________
STICKERS
UBFHAI IS NOT enjoined nor prohibited by any order from a court of law from issuing stickers and collecting entry and other fees to sustain its existence.
Some of our members initially thought that there would be no need for stickers as the gates have been opened by the two city mayors. Many more of our homeowners, however, aware of the effect of the opening of the gates on the existence of UBFHAI, have inquired and insisted that we continue with the issuance of UBFHAI stickers.
This proves all the more that the majority of our homeowners and residents SUPPORT THE FEDERATION. It also represents a collective vote against the forced opening of the gates.
In view of this, therefore, please forward to UBFHAI the authorized signatures of your association pertinent to the issuance of stickers to your respective homeowners. Also, those of you who wish to arrange for on-site processing of stickers for your residents, please call the UBFHAI Clubhouse at telephone numbers 807-3115, 807-5270, or 807-5084 and ask for either Rina or Weng. This is a good chance for all our members and homeowners to show their solidarity with our cause. Please be with us and your association.
CDO, GARNISHMENT ORDERS LIFTED, APPEALS COURT
The last half of the preceding year was a turbulent one for your FEDERATION. First, the mayor of the Paranaque city government forced opened our roads to the public, shortly afterwards, the mayor of Las Pinas followed suit. Both did so under the dubious guise of their respective so-called city ordinances. We have since retained the services of a reputable law firm, and our appeals for relief and a Temporary Restraining Order have been filed with the Court of Appeals.
We are hoping for positive results from these efforts. This is part of your Board’s continued pursuit of various legal remedies available in order to settle once and for all that as our subdivision is private, the roads remain private property, and should therefore remain in the hands of the Federation.
As you all know, certain legal actions take time. Hence, we beg your indulgence. We shall soon arrive at the solution we’ve been fighting for - a decision that unequivocally states that homeowners’ rights in this case precede a city’s authority and police power.
The garnishment of our funds by the Bureau of Internal Revenue was something we also had to contend with. It cannot be denied that this was the result of intrigues instigated by the disputatious, petulant minority of the board. Out of fiduciary duty, we in the majority negotiated and compromised with the BIR, and ended up paying over three million pesos (P3,000,000,00) in back taxes and other legal fees, under protest. Fortunately, we were still left with a manageable amount as well as our restricted funds intact. With prudent spending, we will survive this as well.
We have also experienced a brief hiatus courtesy of the Cease and Desist Order (CDO) issued by the HLURB last September, 2005 suspending me and other members of your Board. This was lifted in late November, and I am back as your elected President. And we’ve hit the ground running.
During that hiatus, however, your Board has been very busy. We have been addressing various issues that affect each and every one of our homeowners. Chief among these are WATER, SAFETY, and SECURITY.
On the first issue, we have reported to you that the developer’s Certificate of Convenience had expired TWO YEARS AGO. UBFHAI, together with Inner Circle Homes, has filed its position opposing the grant of an extension of the CPC on valid grounds. We even circulated among all of you a copy of the joint affidavit for you to sign, so that in greater numbers, together we can oppose their extension. The opposition is relative to HLURB decision ordering BF Homes, Inc. to turn over the management and operation of the water system in the subdivision to UBFHAI on behalf of all of you.
Some of you have responded and sent in their affidavits, but we MUST have ALL the associations involved. We cannot emphasize enough that the issue of water goes beyond politics and personalities, and should therefore unite us once and for all, for our common good.
On the issue of Safety and Security, we remain deeply alarmed and aggrieved by the drastic deterioration of peace and order in our village, the steep rise in criminality, all manner of threats to our security and safety, no thanks to the mayors of both Paranaque and Las Pinas. They have forcibly opened our roads without providing for the security and peace of mind of our over 10,000 homeowners.
Our Safety and Security Committee continues to monitor the situation and record all incidents that have affected all of you. We have previously reported to you the rampant criminal incidents, the robberies, the carnappings, threats to life and property. We have also informed you of the unabated growth of the
number of informal settlers within our subdivision; the ever-aggravating traffic conditions within our village, the serious physical injuries suffered by the victim during the attempted robbery at the Going Straight Salon, and lately the stabbing incident that occurred at the PCJ parish compound.
Copies of the reports we collate are passed on to our retained counsel for submission to the Court of Appeals as evidence. But, again, your continued cooperation in this area is valuable. Please coordinate and inform our security office of all incidents occurring in your respective enclaves. Remember, the frequency of criminal activities in our neighborhood continues to go up with the forced opening of our gates, even as the quality of our neighborhood is deteriorating. But we can anticipate and safeguard our properties and families more adequately if we remain informed. That is the very least we can do for the moment.
One other important concern we would like to bring to your attention is the unabated renovation and construction going in various areas of our subdivision, without passing through your mother association. We must remind everyone that the forced opening of our gates does not have anything to do with the enforcement of our internal zoning guidelines with respect to constructions and renovations. It does not mean that your Federation has relinquished authority and administrative control over the subdivision.
The purpose of the guidelines which have been in force since 1990 is to preserve the residential nature and standards in BF Homes. Let us not be parties to the confusion and deterioration of the subdivision.
Kindly cooperate by passing all such applications to UBFHAI for approval. We therefore enjoin all association presidents: please monitor the activities in your enclaves. The roads may be opened for now, but the monitoring of construction and renovation projects still continues. This is all the more imperative as it is part of our collective mandate to safeguard the rights, ideals, and aspirations of our homeowners and residents for a clean, orderly and peaceful neighborhood.
In closing, we wish to assure one and all that your Board is exerting all efforts to preserve and protect our rights which are guaranteed by law, and we shall be reporting to you accordingly. But in these trying times, we look forward to your cooperation, commitment, and continuing vigilance. Our enemies are within the gates now. Let’s not fall victim to our own apathy as well.
Attached, by the way, please find for your information a recently-published column reflecting on the problems that we all face as homeowners and residents.
Food for thought as it were, as we begin the year with the greater hope that our leaders may wake up and realize that “you don’t go fixing things that ain’t broke.”
CELSO L. REYES
President